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A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR AUTHORS 



A PRACTICAL GUIDE 
FOR AUTHORS 

IN THEIR RELATIONS WITH 

PUBLISHERS AND 

PRINTERS 

BY 

WILLIAM STONE BOOTH 




BOSTON AND NEW YORK 

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 

(C\)z ftifeersibe pre??, Cambridge 

1907 



3 b 



U3RARY of CONGRESS 


v> V* 


Two Copies Received 


APR 5 1907 




^Copyright Entry 
'A_*a, .>?. 'foj. 




CUSS A XXC, No, 
COPY B. 





COPYRIGHT 1907 BY W. S. BOOTH 

Published April iqo? 



PREFACE 

The index to this book contains a refer- 
ence to each of those questions and diffi- 
culties which may arise during negotiations 
for the sale of a manuscript to a pub- 
lisher, or in the relations which exist between 
a publisher and an author after a work has 
been accepted, and while it is being printed 
and published. 

A publisher cannot afford to let a valuable 
manuscript slip through his hands without 
good reason. He is as eager to find a manu- 
script acceptable as the author is to have it 
accepted. The prosperity of the publisher 
is inseparable from the prosperity of the 
author. Authors may therefore rest assured 
that their work will be carefully read, whether 
the directions in this book are observed or 
not. If they are followed, however, both 
author and publisher will be saved much 
time, money, and effort. 

W. S. Booth. 

Cambridge, Mass., December, 1906. 



CONTENTS 

Preparation of the Manuscript or Copy . i 

The Blue Pencil 5 

Offering a Manuscript to a Publisher . . 7 

Advance Royalties 9 

The Literary Agent 12 

Copyright 17 

The British Market 19 

Serial Rights 26 

Agreements and Contracts 28 

Cover Designs 38 

How a Publisher may be helped by an Author 39 

Advertising and Descriptive Circulars . . 42 

Press Copies 46 

Proof-Reading 48 

Signs used in Proof-Re ading 54 

Types; Sizes generally used in Books . . 57 

Proof with Corrections 58 

Specimen of Corrected Proof ...... 59 

American Rules for Spelling and Punctua- 
tion 60 

English Rules for Spelling and Punctuation 85 

French Spelling, etc 141 

German Spelling, etc 163 

Division of Latin Words . 171 

Division of Greek Words 172 

Index 175 



A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR 
AUTHORS 

PREPARATION OF THE MANU- 
SCRIPT OR COPY 

Write on one side of the paper. Sheets 
written on both sides are called " backed 
copy," and are troublesome to the printers 
and readers. 

Use white paper, about eight inches wide, 
and ten or eleven inches long. Leave a lib- 
eral margin on the left hand and at the top 
of each sheet. 

Do not use two sizes of paper in the same 
manuscript. 

Let there be a full quarter of an inch be- 
tween the lines of a manuscript, whether 
written by machine or by hand. 

Number each sheet of a manuscript con- 
secutively, and do not page one chapter in- 
dependently of another. 



2 A Practical Guide for Authors 

Black ink should always be used for hand- 
writing. 

The author's name and address should be 
clearly written on the front of the manuscript, 
and a copy of the manuscript should always 
be retained in view of the possible loss of the 
original. It is easy to make a carbon copy 
when typewriting a manuscript. 

To fold or roll a manuscript makes it 
unhandy for readers and printers. Send 
manuscripts flat through the mail or by ex- 
press. 

Binding, sewing, or fastening a manu- 
script, either wholly or in part, is trouble- 
some to every one who has to handle it. A 
manuscript can be read most easily leaf by 
leaf. 

Typewritten work is easier to read and to 
correct than handwriting. It saves the com- 
positors time and prevents typographical 
errors. The manuscript should be clear, 
with strong ink and good alignment. Faint 
typewriting is hard to read. Thin or tissue 
paper is difficult to hold. 



Preparation of the Manuscript or Copy 3 

An author will find that the easiest way to 
prepare a voluminous manuscript is to keep 
each chapter loosely between paper covers 
and not tied or fastened. The paper cover 
should bear the number and title of the 
chapter. 

Long notes or added matter should be 
written on a separate page, and numbered 
next to and consecutively with the text. 
Make a reference to it by the word "Note," 
or by an asterisk (*). 

A short note may be inserted between 
two lines drawn across the page, and a refer- 
ence made to it in the text by an asterisk, 
thus (*) 

Note. 

Some authors prefer to put their notes at 
the foot of the manuscript sheet, but it is 
often impossible to foresee how many notes, 
or how much space for them, will be needed 
on a sheet. 

Quotations or passages from the works of 
other authors are often printed in a type 



4 A Practical Guide jor Authors 

smaller than, or different from, that of the 
text, or with a different leading; they should 
therefore be carefully marked on the manu- 
script. 

Use mucilage to join one piece of paper to 
another. Do not use pins. Pinned papers 
fall apart, and so cause confusion and waste 
of time to publisher and printer. When 
they are separated, they are likely to be lost 
or set up out of place. 

The manuscript should be clearly marked 
to show where a cut or an illustration is to 
be placed. Illustrations themselves should 
be pasted on a separate sheet, following the 
sheet to which they refer. The illustrations 
of a technical work should always be num- 
bered. 



THE BLUE PENCIL 

When a man has something to say, he will 
find his chief difficulty to be, not with gram- 
mar nor punctuation, but with the tendency 
to redundance. The proof-readers will cor- 
rect the two former faults, but the author 
himself must correct the last. Compare the 
two following passages. The first is as it 
was written, the second as it is after the 
blue pencil has been used. 

I 
Among many interesting questions which 
are being discussed by educators in all parts 
of the country, none demands more serious 
consideration from parents, teachers, and 
pupils, from college trustees and school 
superintendents, than the instruction of our 
boys and girls in the indispensable art of 
writing English. To fit one's self to be able 
to use one's mother tongue with skill and 



6 A Practical Guide for Authors 

precision, to gain power to explain one's 
ideas and to persuade others to one's view, 
is to make a good start on the road to suc- 
cess in business as well as the professions. 
And yet our spoken and written English, 
strive as we may to hold up the finest ideals 
to the rising generation, is, let us at once 
confess it, steadily and in spite of all our 
efforts, manifestly deteriorating. 

II 

Teaching English composition is one of 
the most important questions now before 
educators. Though skillful use of the mother 
tongue carries one far towards success in 
any calling, yet spoken and written English 
is steadily deteriorating. 



Until a writer has won a mastery over his 
pen, he must challenge every sentence and 
paragraph, and ruthlessly cut out every ad- 
jective, adverb, and qualifying clause which 
can be spared. 



OFFERING A MANUSCRIPT TO A 
PUBLISHER 

Before offering a manuscript to a pub- 
lisher with whose business you are not famil- 
iar, get a catalogue of his publications and 
satisfy yourself that his list is appropriate 
to the kind of book you have written. This 
is of importance to an author who is un- 
acquainted with the field, and who has made 
an investment of labor, time, and money in a 
manuscript which requires special handling, 
publishing machinery, and prestige. 

Such an inquiry will be a foundation for 
a good understanding between author and 
publisher, without which it will prove diffi- 
cult to maintain satisfactory relations. 

An author will sometimes wish to know 
the financial standing of a publisher, and 
whether he manages his business on such a 
conservative basis that he will be able to pay 
his royalties for the full term of copyright, if 



8 A Practical Guide for Authors 

the book is likely to be of permanent value. 
Such inquiries can be made through the 
regular credit agencies when necessary. 

A publisher is as eager to find a manu- 
script acceptable as an author is to have it 
accepted. It may therefore be taken for 
granted that all manuscripts will be carefully 
read by advisers of special training in the sub- 
ject with which the work deals, and by whose 
opinion a publisher always strengthens his 
own judgment. 

Attach to a technical work a concise state- 
ment of its purpose and scope, in order to 
enable the publisher to see at a glance which 
of his readers will be likely to give him the 
most valuable opinion upon it. 

Although in a legal sense a publisher is 
responsible only for those manuscripts which 
he has solicited, he holds himself responsible 
for the safety of a manuscript while it is in 
his hands. 

Manuscripts should be sent by express, 
for they can then be traced in case of loss or 
misdirection. 



ADVANCE ROYALTIES 

An author sometimes wishes a publisher 
to contract to pay him his royalties before 
they are earned, and sometimes even before 
the book is published. This means that the 
publisher not only must risk his money on 
the costs of manufacture and publication, 
but must also assume a risk which properly 
belongs to the author. 

An author may be pleased to have his 
money offered to him before it is earned, but 
it is plain that a publisher who has at heart 
the interests of all the authors on his list has 
no right to indulge in the speculation in- 
volved in paying out to favored individuals 
money which their books may never earn. 
It is hardly necessary to point out the dan- 
ger of this kind of speculative publishing. 
A publisher's position is in many respects 
like that of a trustee; and when an author 
has written a valuable work, from which 



io A Practical Guide for Authors 

he expects to receive an income for many 
years, he will consult his best interests by 
discouraging this kind of " liberality. " 

It is an easy matter to use care in choosing 
a publisher with reference to the subject and 
importance of the work to be published. 
Write to the various firms for their catalogues, 
look them over, and it will at once be seen 
which firms are interested in those books 
which will live as genuine contributions to 
literature or scholarship, and which firms 
make a specialty of text-books, books for 
the common schools, general literature, or 
frankly ephemeral literature. 

The important question for an author 
is, "How can I so place my manuscript that 
I shall receive an income from it for many 
years to come, if it prove successful, and in 
whose hands will its future interests be best 
served?" 

Probably there is no publisher who, on 
occasion, does not pay royalties before they 
are earned ; but the practice is unsound, 
and is the result, in a large measure, of an 



Advance Royalties n 

unwholesome competition for ephemeral lit- 
erature, the profits of which are always 
uncertain. The public taste for this class of 
work is too fickle for its use as a basis of 
a permanent publishing business. In this, 
as in all other pursuits, speculation added 
to the ordinary business risks can lead only 
to financial instability. 



THE LITERARY AGENT 

The legitimate function of a Literary 
Agent is to counsel and advise an author on 
publishing matters with which he is not con- 
versant, and to introduce the author to a 
publisher after having helped him to deter- 
mine into whose hands the manuscript shall 
be intrusted. He also often makes himself 
useful to the author by selling manuscripts 
on commission, thus relieving the author of 
the trouble of disposing of his own work. 

An agent is a practical necessity to an 
author who cannot afford the time to study 
the contents of the magazines in order to 
know which is most likely to want the kind 
of thing he writes. The agent's knowledge 
of the needs of the magazines often enables 
him to sell a story quickly, especially if the 
author is already well known and popular. 

An agent's attention is usually devoted 
to writers of fiction. He usually demands a 



The Literary Agent 13 

fee on receipt of the manuscript, a percent- 
age of the amount which he gets for the 
story, or a commission on royalties in the 
case of a book. He tries, as a rule, to get 
for the author a payment from the pub- 
lisher on account of the royalties before they 
are earned. From this sum he deducts his 
charges or commissions. The employment 
of an agent is therefore always an expensive 
way to sell a manuscript. 

If an author can afford the time and has an 
average business intelligence, he can make 
the rounds of the publishers' offices as easily 
as an agent, and so save his money. When, 
however, an author has written a serial or 
story for which magazines will be likely to 
bid one against another, he will do well to 
employ an agent. It is an ungracious task 
to sing the praises of one's own work, and 
an unskilled person is more likely than an 
agent to lose one offer while trying to get 
better terms in another direction. 

It is natural that a well-known writer 
should receive prompt attention from an 



14 A Practical Guide for Authors 

editor, but an unknown writer may rest 
assured that even though his work is not 
promptly read, it is ultimately read with as 
much care as that of his more fortunate 
competitor. When an author thinks of em- 
ploying a deputy to visit the editors in his 
stead, he should reflect that he is about to let 
slip one of the best means of placing his next 
work, namely, a friendly personal relation 
with the man to whom he may wish to sell it. 

An unknown author living at a distance 
can use the services of an agent to advantage 
sometimes; though even here a good short 
business-like letter will probably accomplish 
as satisfactory results. 

An author who has satisfactory relations 
with a publisher is often " approached" by 
a literary agent with a tempting cash bait 
as an inducement to desert his publisher 
for another. This is, of course, profitable 
to the agent, but it is a grave mistake for the 
author if his work is of such a quality that 
it is likely, in the long run, to be salable in 
a collected edition. 



The Literary Agent 15 

In any business, most men prefer to deal 
with a principal rather than with an agent, 
and the wise author will therefore deal 
directly with the publisher 

No publisher is likely to take quite the 
same interest in a book brought to him by 
an agent as in one that is brought to him 
directly by an author. His relations with the 
author through an agent are not likely to 
become permanent or personal, and another 
publisher may reap the results of his work 
in the author's interest. If a publisher by 
his business ability and hard work makes 
handsome royalties for a book brought to 
him by an agent, he often finds that the agent 
will make excessive demands when bringing a 
second book by the same author. If a novel, 
for instance, is well advertised in the press 
and by circular, and " pushed" in the book- 
trade, it takes a sale of three thousand copies 
to reimburse the publisher. The author, 
on the other hand, will have made about 
five hundred dollars in royalties in the mean- 
time. If a publisher has a direct personal 



1 6 A Practical Guide for Authors 

relation with that author and the likelihood 
of publishing another equally good book 
by him, he will probably have spent his 
profit, if he has made any, in giving this first 
book a good start in the interests of the 
second. If, however, he suspects that another 
publisher will reap the results of his efforts, 
as is often the case when an agent has the 
matter in hand, he will be careful to save all 
the profits, instead of using them in ways 
which would tend to establish the author's 
reputation, with future common interests in 
view. 

From the foregoing remarks it can be 
seen how easily an author may damage 
his permanent interests by giving an agent 
an unchecked power over the disposition of 
his books. An agent will lose his future 
commissions if he allows an author to es- 
tablish permanent and personal relations 
with a publisher who manages his business 
in a safe and conservative way. 



COPYRIGHT 

Authors who wish to obtain a copyright 
before parting with their manuscript can 
do so by following the directions in Bulletin 
No. 2, Directions for Securing Copyrights, 
prepared by Thorvald Solberg, Register of 
Copyrights. This bulletin can be had, free 
of charge, by mailing a postal card to the 
Librarian of Congress. The Common Law 
protects the author's exclusive right to his 
work and manuscript until it is published, 
however. It is customary to leave the details 
of copyright to the publisher, who will attend 
to them when the book is ready for publica- 
tion. 

The entry in the Copyright Office in 
Washington is made in the name of the 
author or of the publisher, as agreed between 
them. Most contracts, on a royalty basis, are 
made to terminate only with the expiration 
of copyright. In any case, the sole right to 



1 8 A Practical Guide for Authors 

publish is held by the publisher during the 
term of his contract with the author. If at 
the termination of the contract the legal 
term of copyright has not elapsed, the rights 
revert to the author, and become his ex- 
clusive property. After the legal term has 
elapsed, the public resumes the rights which 
it granted to the author under the copyright 
laws. 

The ownership or temporary control of 
the copyright is governed by the terms of 
the author's contract with the publisher, and 
is not determined by the legal notice of 
copyright which is usually printed on the 
back of the title-page. 

It is rarely necessary to secure copyright 
for an American book in Great Britain. 
When a book is likely to sell in such num- 
bers over there as to tempt a pirate, the 
American publisher will attend to the Brit- 
ish copyright through his agent or his Lon- 
don house. 



THE BRITISH MARKET 

American publishers usually supply the 
British market by selling an edition, in 
sheets, to their agents in London, and by 
keeping the later demand supplied in the 
same way. If an author wishes to prevent 
piracy in Great Britain, he should direct his 
publisher to see that his work is copyrighted 
in London in compliance with the require- 
ments of the British law, and the interna- 
tional copyright agreement. This will neces- 
sitate simultaneous publication on both 
sides of the water, and will entail the expense 
of a few dollars, and possibly the delay of a 
few weeks, in order that six bound copies 
may be sent to meet the legal requirements 
of the British copyright law. 

There is much misunderstanding among 
American authors as to the advantage of 
publishing with firms supposed to have a 
house both in England and America. The 



20 A Practical Guide jor Authors 

fact is that any American firm can arrange 
for the publication in Great Britain and her 
colonies of a book which is likely to interest 
British readers. Witness the activity of any 
one of the progressive American publishing 
houses, many of whose books are issued in 
Great Britain. Any one, for instance, who 
has taken the trouble to look over the 
advertising columns of "The Spectator," 
"The Times," or "The Athenaeum," will 
have seen that Messrs. Archibald Constable 
& Company, of London, have issued during 
the past two years in Great Britain and her 
colonies, jointly with Messrs. Houghton, 
Mifflin & Company of Boston, over one 
hundred and fifty works by well-known 
American authors. It is interesting to note 
that the Boston firm — the publishers of the 
works of Emerson, Longfellow, Hawthorne, 
Lowell, Holmes, and Thoreau, to mention 
but a few names of our national classics — 
are in the forefront of both American and 
Anglo-American houses in the international 
publication of works by American writers. 



The British Market 21 

The enterprise of English publishers es- 
tablished in the American publishing field, 
and their praiseworthy activity in intro- 
ducing English books to American readers, 
have led American authors to credit them 
with facilities for publishing in England 
which are not possessed by American firms. 
How erroneous this impression is has been 
shown above. The works of Prescott, Park- 
man, and Motley, in history; Bret Harte, 
Hawthorne, and Holmes, in fiction; Emer- 
son and Thoreau, Longfellow, Lowell, and 
Whitman, in philosophy and poetry, were 
all published in America by American firms, 
and owing to the business enterprise of those 
firms are now the common literary heritage 
of Great Britain and America. The same 
claim might with equal fairness be made in 
respect of most of the living American 
writers whose works have struck a respon- 
sive chord in the hearts of British readers. 

When we speak of the publication of an 
English edition of an American book, writ- 
ten by an author little known in England, 



22 A Practical Guide for Authors 

we should bear in mind that such editions 
usually do not exceed two hundred and 
fifty copies, and almost never exceed one 
thousand copies. These editions are sold 
unbound in sheets, and at a price which 
must be a fraction of the American pub- 
lished price, to allow for the cost of binding 
and for the trade discounts in England. An 
English edition of an American book by an 
author little known in England, therefore, 
brings small profit either to the American 
publisher or to the American author, and 
it is of value chiefly in so far as it brings 
credit to both in the English reviews, and 
so lays a foundation for the future among 
English readers. 

Where an American author has achieved 
popularity in Great Britain, his work is often 
manufactured there and copyright secured 
on both sides of the water by simultaneous 
publication. In such a case the author will 
receive payment from both his American 
and his English publishers. 

American writers who are ambitious 



The British Market 23 

rather of adding distinction to the literary 
history of their country than of making a 
fortune will therefore show no undue anxiety 
over the size of their first English editions. 
If, however, it is the good fortune of an 
American publisher to issue the works of a 
writer of remarkable power, he will make 
a great business mistake if he omits to take 
advantage of copyright protection in Eng- 
land. The works of men of genius like 
Irving, Cooper, Emerson, Longfellow, Low- 
ell, and Holmes, were in a large measure un- 
protected in England, but under the present 
international laws authors can now secure 
their rights there, if their publisher does his 
duty by them, and if they are alive to their 
own interests. 

To a publisher who wishes to keep his 
business on a sound financial basis, it is 
becoming of less and less interest to issue 
books for authors who set money above 
all other considerations. Such authors are 
rarely frank in their business dealings, and 
the relation cannot be one of long standing, 



24 A Practical Guide for Authors 

as it should be if an author wishes to reap the 
cumulative effect of his reputation. 

Longfellow, Holmes, Emerson, Thoreau, 
and Burroughs, to name but a few, are in- 
stances of authors whose works have not 
been scattered, and consequently are sold 
in complete editions, or sets, under the im- 
print of one publisher. 

As a rule, the authors who are the most 
eager for immediate cash returns are those 
who are the least likely to be heard of ten 
years hence, so the question is one which 
often solves itself. 

A publisher of experience prefers to 
launch a book fairly in the book-trade and 
then watch results. If the public buy it in 
profitable numbers from the booksellers, 
the booksellers take good care to re-order it, 
and to keep in stock a constant supply of 
an article in which they can so safely invest 
their money. When a salesman calls on the 
booksellers with a second book by the same 
author, not only is he likely to find the book- 
seller ready to buy a stock of the new book, 



The British Market 25 

but he is pretty sure to sell more of the first 
book at the same time. This is an illustra- 
tion of the cumulative effect of successive 
books by one author when they are kept 
in the hands of one publishing house. The 
immediate returns may not be so great for 
either author or publisher, but in the long 
run they are usually greater than they can 
be if the books are scattered among several 
publishers whose interests clash. It is well 
to remember that the issue of each new 
book gives the publisher this chance to bring 
the former books of the same author to 
the attention of the booksellers and of the 
public. 



SERIAL RIGHTS 

When selling to a magazine the serial 
rights in a story or other work, an author 
should be careful to set down in writing to 
the purchaser that he reserves the right to 
publish his material in book form after it 
has appeared in the magazine. Some maga- 
zine proprietors are also publishers of books, 
and it is a common courtesy to offer them 
the first refusal of the book rights in the 
material which they have published in their 
magazines, unless the author has already 
established relations with another book 
publisher. They themselves often make this 
a condition when buying the serial rights. 

Before signing a contract for. the publica- 
tion of a book, an author should see that a 
clause is provided to stipulate for a definite 
share of any moneys which may be received 
from other publishers or persons by the sale 
of, or by the permission to publish, extracts 



Serial Rights 27 

or parts of his book. This clause should also 
stipulate for a definite share of the proceeds 
which may accrue from a sale of the serial 
rights after the book has been published. 
Such a sale is infrequent, but it should be 
provided for, in order to avoid later mis- 
understanding. 



AGREEMENTS AND CONTRACTS 

There is very little difference between the 
forms of agreement used by reputable pub- 
lishers. They vary in minor details, and their 
terms differ with the subject of the work, 
its purpose, and its prospect of sale. The 
publisher usually assumes the cost of manu- 
facturing, printing, and publishing, and 
offers the author a royalty on the retail 
selling price of the book. 

An author sometimes writes a book which, 
though scholarly and valuable from an in- 
tellectual standpoint, is likely to have so slow 
a sale that a publisher will not care to lock 
up his money in it. In such a case he fre- 
quently offers to publish it if the author 
pays the whole or a part of the cost of manu- 
facture. The publisher will then pay the 
author a much larger share of the returns, or 
royalty, than he can possibly afford to pay 
if he bears the whole cost of manufacture. 



Agreements and Contracts 29 

Books of this nature are also published 
on a commission basis. The author pays the 
cost of manufacture and advertising, and the 
publisher accounts to him for the net amount 
of the sales after deducting his commission. 
The author will do well to be sure that he 
understands all his responsibilities before 
signing the agreement; and to bear in mind 
that prices for printing and manufacture 
vary according to the quality of the work 
done. 

The author is required by the terms of the 
contract to hold himself responsible for 
legal liability on account of libelous state- 
ments, and for any infringement of another 
author's copyright. 

The rights of translation, dramatization, 
and serial publication should be provided 
for in the contract. 

As the fulfillment of any contract must 
rest upon a mutual understanding of its 
provisions and upon the good faith and 
good will of both parties to it, the author 
should thoroughly scan the contract and 



30 A Practical Guide for Authors 

master the bearings of each clause in it. 
Here again it is well to reiterate the advice 
that before deciding on a publisher, an author 
should assure himself of the commercial 
standing of the firm, and of its ability to 
make good the provisions of its contract 
for so long as it shall continue. 

The following form of agreement is a 
good one, and is very generally used, with 
slight variations, in contracts based upon a 
royalty to be paid to the author: — 

&greemettt t made the Tenth Hay o f October 
i<) 06 between John Dobbin n f Oldtown, Mass., an H 
Blank and Company, of the City of Boston, Publishers. 
I. Said John Dobbin hereby grants and assigns to 
Blank and Company a work, the subject or title of 
which is A History of the United States of America, 

with all translations, abridgments, selections, and rights 
therefor of said work, or parts thereof, with exclusive 
right and power, in its own name, or in the name of said 

John Dobbin, f n t a k e ou t copyright thereof, and any 
renewal of the same, and publish said work during 
the term of said copyright in all languages. The said 

John Dobbin guarantees that ne is the sole owner 
of said work and has full power and authority to make 
this contract ; that said work is not a violation of any 



Agreements and Contracts 31 

copyright and contains no scandalous or libelous matter ; 
that he w ju defend, indemnify, make good and hold 
harmless Blank and Company against all claims, de- 
mands, suits, actions or causes of action made or brought 
against said Blank and Company, and against all 
loss, damage, costs, charges, and expenses that the said 
Blank and Company shall sustain or incur on account or 
by reason of any scandalous or libelous matter alleged 
to be contained in said work, or any alleged violation by 
said work of any copyright. 

2. Blank and Company agree to publish said work 
at their own expense, in such style as they deem best 
suited to the sale of the work, and to pay sai d J°hn 

Dobbin, his representatives or assigns, °°° per cent 
on its retail price for each copy by them sold. And 
Blank and Company shall render always semi-annual 

statements of account, in the months of and 

and make settlements in cash four months 

after date of each statement. In case an edition of the 
work shall be sold at a reduced price for export, the 
percentage to be paid thereon to sai d J onn Bobbin 
shall be 00 ° per cent on the American retail price. 

3. Blank and Company may publish, or permit others 
to publish, such selections from said work as they think 
proper to benefit its sale, without compensation to the 
grantor herein, but the compensation for translations and 
dramatizations shall be subject to agreement between 
the parties hereto. 

4. Alterations in type, plates, or otherwise in the 
work, after delivery of copy to Blank and Company, 
which exceed 000 „ per cent of the cost of original com- 



32 A Practical Guide for Authors 

position, shall be at the expense of said J°^ n Dobbin, 
and any index that may be required by Blank and 
Company for said work shall be prepared by said 
John Dobbin nr at fa s expense. 

5. If the plates or type forms be rendered valueless by 
fire or otherwise, Blank and Company shall have the op- 
tion of reproducing them or not, and if they decline to 
do so, then, after the sale of all copies remaining on 
hand, they shall reconvey the copyright and all rights 
herein granted to said John Dobbin, his heirs or assigns, 
and this contract shall terminate. 

6. If, at any time after two years from the date of 
publication, Blank and Company shall be satisfied 
that the public demand does not justify the continued 
publication of the work, or if for any other cause they shall 
deem its further publication improper or inexpedient, 
then they may offer, in writing, to said John Dobbin, his 
heirs or assigns, the plates and any original engravings 
or illustrations to said work at half cost, and all copies 
then on hand at cost, and said John Dobbin, his heirs 
or assigns, shall have the right within sixty days to take 
and pay for the same, and shall thereupon become 
sole owner of the copyright herein named, and Blank 
and Company shall thereupon transfer such copyright; 
but if said offer be not accepted and such payments 
made within sixty days, then Blank and Company 
may destroy the plates, and sell all copies then on hand 
free of percentage to said John Dobbin, his heirs or as- 
signs, and this agreement shall thereupon terminate, the 
copyright reverting to said John Dobbin, his heirs or 
assigns. 



Agreements and Contracts 33 

7. This contract may be assigned by either party, 
and the assignee thereof shall have all the rights and 
remedies of the original parties hereto, but only as a 
whole, and neither party shall assign any part interest 
therein. 

8. 00 ° ropfes of the complete work will be fur- 
nished on publication to sai d John Dobbin hy Blank 
and Company without charge. 

Signed Blank and Company. 
John Dobbin. 



Special arrangements necessitate special 
forms of contract, and terms which vary 
with the particular needs of each case. 

Royalties paid by English publishers are 
sometimes higher than those which an 
American firm can afford to pay on works 
of a popular nature. The costs of manufac- 
ture and wages are much higher in the United 
States than they are in Great Britain. In 
both countries, however, royalties vary be- 
tween practically the same limits of ten and 
fifteen per cent on the published price of the 
book. They are rarely higher, and then only 
in the event of phenomenal sales. 

When a work is valuable in itself but is 



34 A Practical Guide for Authors 

likely to meet with a limited demand, or 
slow sale, a publisher often contracts that 
the royalty on the first thousand copies sold 
shall not become payable until after the 
second thousand copies have been sold. An 
author in this way often obtains a publisher 
for a good book which would entail too great 
a risk if issued on any other royalty basis. 
Under this plan the royalties accruing after 
the sale of the first thousand copies are 
payable on the usual semi-annual statement 
of account, while those which have accrued 
on the first thousand will be paid later when 
two thousand copies have been sold. 

The number of complimentary copies 
which an author receives gratis from the 
publisher varies with the practice of each 
firm. 

Royalties are based on the retail selling 
price of a book, and the price at which 
a book is issued must be decided by the 
publisher. The main factors in determin- 
ing the price are the costs of material and 
manufacture, discounts to the booksellers, 



Agreements and Contracts 35 

advertising, and the time it will take to reim- 
burse the publisher for all these outlays. 
No publisher can afford to lock up his capi- 
tal too long in any one book, so he must set 
his price high enough to reimburse himself 
within a reasonable time. The author will 
gain in receipts from royalties on a high 
price what he may think he will lose in the 
number of sales had his book been issued at 
a more popular price. For instance, com- 
pare the royalties on 1500 books sold in six 
months at $1.50, with those on 1000 copies 
sold in the same time at $2.50. 

When the market for the high-priced edi- 
tion has been exhausted, if there is enough 
interest shown in the book to warrant the 
assumption that a new edition at a lower 
price will be taken up by the booksellers, 
the publisher may be relied on to see the 
advantage of the cheaper edition. 

Contracts for educational text-books vary 
in their terms according to the purpose of the 
work. Owing to the expense of obtaining 
their adoption or use in schools and colleges, 



36 A Practical Guide for Authors 

the royalties are often less than those which 
a publisher can afford to pay on some other 
classes of literary work, but if they become 
widely used, the lower royalty is counter- 
balanced by the large sale. 

In order to supplant a book already in 
use, the publisher is often compelled by the 
school authorities to exchange new books 
for those which he wishes to supplant. The 
publisher provides for this costly proceed- 
ing by a clause in his contract with the 
author stipulating that no royalty shall be 
paid on books thus exchanged if less than 
60 to 80 per cent (according to the circum- 
stances) of the published price is received in 
cash after deducting the amount charged for 
the supplanted books by the school author- 
ities. 

In publishing books for the common 
schools, and college text-books, the meth- 
ods employed and the forms and terms of 
contracts with the author have little in 
common with those employed for works of 
general literature. School and text-book 



Agreements and Contracts 37 

royalties are sometimes based on the whole- 
sale net price, that is to say, the retail list 
price less a discount of 20 per cent. Thus, 
for example, 6 per cent on the published 
price is equivalent to 7J per cent on the 
net price of a book to be used in the common 
schools. These figures are given merely as 
an illustration of a practice which varies 
according to the nature of the work and the 
probable extent of its use. 



COVER DESIGNS 

A cover should be appropriate to the con- 
tents of a book. The covers of works of fic- 
tion and general literature offer a wide scope 
for tasteful decoration. Works of philosophy, 
economics, or science are in better taste 
when issued with a simple and dignified let- 
tering. Over-elaboration is to be deprecated, 
on the score of good taste, for all books. 

Those colors should be avoided which 
fade and entail a loss on the bookseller who 
exposes them in his window or store. 

An author often desires a cover design or 
a binding which cannot be used by reason 
of the expense which it would entail. Each 
color is laid on with a separate brass stamp 
and by a separate handling. Expensive 
work and costly fabrics can be put only on 
expensive books. 

The three qualities to be desired in a 
binding are dignity, beauty, and durability. 



HOW A PUBLISHER MAY BE 
HELPED BY AN AUTHOR 

Sales can often be increased if an author 
will advise the publisher where and how a 
special interest in his book may be aroused, 
and if he will suggest special methods by 
which their common interests may be ad- 
vanced. 

As soon as the author and the publisher 
are agreed as to the terms of publication, 
the author should provide the publisher 
with a concise account of his book from his 
own point of view. This should be a simple 
and clear statement of the contents, pur- 
pose, and scope, as its character may dic- 
tate. The publisher takes these facts and 
weaves them into his announcements, his 
preliminary press notices, and his adver- 
tising. He also uses them for the informa- 
tion of the literary editors throughout the 
country. A publisher always prepares his 



40 A Practical Guide for Authors 

own description of a book; first, because it 
is addressed to the booksellers, and second, 
because an author's own account is rarely 
written in an impersonal way. An author's 
point of view about his own work is, how- 
ever, generally essential to a good descrip- 
tion of it. 

In sending out presentation copies to ed- 
itors and others, a publisher can be aided 
by an author, who should provide him with 
the names of journals and reviews in which, 
for reasons within his knowledge, his work 
is likely to receive particular attention. The 
names of professors and teachers who are 
likely to be personally interested in an edu- 
cational work are also of service. 

Complimentary copies sent to an author's 
influential friends, or to co-workers in his 
field of scholarship, often result in valuable 
reputation for the book, and also in reviews. 

There is hardly a step either in the manu- 
facture or in the publishing of a book in 
which the publisher cannot be aided by the 
author. 



How a Publisher May be Helped 41 

The height, the thickness, the price, the 
cover, the kind of paper, etc., involve many 
technical commercial questions, and, in a 
large measure, must be left to the publisher's 
good judgment. The author's wishes are 
always treated with due respect, and a frank 
and friendly talk with the publisher will 
decide the practical answers to all such 
questions. 



ADVERTISING AND DESCRIPTIVE 
CIRCULARS 

A book is advertised by the publisher at 
his own expense, unless the author by his 
contract shares the cost of publication. In 
either case, assistance can be given by the 
author. He can call the publisher's atten- 
tion to aspects of his work on which stress 
can be laid in advertising. He can furnish 
paragraphs of literary news for quotation 
in circulars or in news notes to the editors 
of literary columns in the newspapers. Lists 
of the members of societies or clubs likely 
to be interested in the book or in the author 
are always valuable for circulars. 

The methods of displaying advertise- 
ments in the newspapers and the magazines 
vary with the purpose of the advertiser and 
the nature of the books. An observant per- 
son, who makes it his business to understand 
these matters, will soon see whether the 



Advertising and Descriptive Circulars 43 

advertiser is trying to draw attention to 
his firm rather than to his books. The repu- 
tation for extensive advertising is gained 
easily by the practice of selecting one or two 
expensive books and devoting to them much 
space in the daily papers. If a publisher, 
however, wishes to use his advertising in the 
interest of all the authors on his list, he will 
adopt the less showy and more effective 
plan of advertising all his books, giving 
each its place in the display, and placing the 
advertisement in the best papers in the 
country. 

This kind of advertising, backed by the 
proper equipment of first-class traveling 
salesmen and circulars, is the more just 
method. Each publisher will play to his 
own hand, and it is fair to assume that in 
pursuing either method he is regarding 
what in the long run will prove most ad- 
vantageous to the interests common to him- 
self and the authors whose books he is 
trying to sell. 

An author may understand the question 



44 -4 Practical Guide for Authors 

more clearly by remembering that an inser- 
tion of a quarter of a column for one day in 
almost any daily paper in the larger cities 
costs from $10 to $18. That space in ten 
such papers for four days may therefore cost 
as much as $700. Space in the monthly 
magazines is far more costly than in the 
daily papers. 

All publishers distribute widely their an- 
nouncement lists of new books, their special 
and general catalogues. Skillful use of this 
descriptive material is one of the most effi- 
cient and attractive forms of advertising. 

The best form of advertising, however, is 
the most difficult to get. It is that which 
comes from mouth- to- mouth recommenda- 
tion at the table, in the drawing-room or the 
library. In the long run, this is the way a 
really valuable book wins success and brings 
a steady income to both author and pub- 
lisher. By an expensive advertising cam- 
paign, books of a popular nature, even if of 
little intrinsic value, may be forced on the 
attention of those who snap at an attractive 



Advertising and Descriptive Circulars 45 

bait. This method soon shows itself in its 
true colors as another form of gambling, 
which entails an unwise risk of capital. It 
is usually applied to fiction by speculative 
publishers, and is based on a mistaken 
analogy between books and baking-pow- 
der. Such a practice is unfair to the author 
not so favored. Having spent money freely 
in this form of speculative advertising, — to 
say nothing of equally speculative advance 
payments of royalties not yet earned, — the 
publisher must of necessity concentrate his 
efforts on books so advertised, to the neglect 
of those on which he has invested his money 
in a sound business fashion. 



PRESS COPIES 

In sending copies to the press at his own 
expense, the publisher uses his judgment as 
to which journals will give the best reviews. 
His aim is to get reviews in those papers 
or journals which are read by the largest 
number of people who are specially interested 
in the subject. 

An author can promote the success of his 
work by sending to the publisher the names 
of reviewers or journals likely to be inter- 
ested in it. 

One important point to be remembered 
by the author and publisher of a scholarly 
work is that American scholars read for- 
eign journals, philosophical, economic, his- 
torical, scientific, and literary. A scholarly 
work, therefore, should be sent to the best 
reviews in its field, in Germany, England, 
France, and Italy. The resulting notices 
and criticisms will have their due effect in 



Press Copies 47 

sales among American scholars. The returns 
from the countries in question on the aver- 
age scholarly work are often likely to be in 
reputation rather than in sales; but a wise 
publisher or author will set a higher value 
on reputation than on cash in such a case. 
Reputation brings unsolicited manuscripts 
to a publisher's desk, and is one very potent 
cause of an author's future prosperity. 



PROOF-READING 

A specimen page should be sent to the 
author by the publisher to show the pro- 
posed style of type, the size of the printed 
page, and the number of printed pages 
which the manuscript will yield. The author 
should return this specimen at once with 
his criticism. 

If an author intends to make many cor- 
rections in the proof, he must warn the pub- 
lisher to send him his proofs in "galley" 
form, L e. in strips not yet cut off into page 
lengths. 1 

Always return the manuscript with each 
parcel of proofs. When the work is com- 
pleted, the manuscript will be returned to 
the author if desired. 

If the author wishes to read revised proof 
after his corrections have been made in the 

1 A galley is the long frame on which the compositor places 
the lines as he sets them up in type. 



Prooj-Reading 49 

first proof, he should so advise the pub- 
lisher when returning the first proofs cor- 
rected. If the author wants a revised proof 
of only one or two pages, or of a chapter, 
it can be had for the asking. 

When the work is in page proof, the ad- 
dition of a phrase or of a sentence may make 
it necessary for the compositor to "over- run" 
each line on the page, and possibly to "over- 
run" several pages. While the correction 
thus involves but a few words, it may entail 
much labor on the printer, and a consequent 
expense to the author. 

It is generally easy for the author to make 
room for a few words by shortening an 
adjoining sentence, or by taking a word out 
here and there from the neighboring lines 
without loss to the sense. 

The final proofs are called "foundry," or 
"plate" proofs. These are printed from 
the electrotyped plates, and are usually dis- 
tinguished by the heavy black line made 
by the "guards" around the page. If the 
author and the printer have done their 



50 A Practical Guide for Authors 

proof-reading properly, no corrections should 
be needed on these proofs. Every change 
in "plate" proof entails the cutting of a 
hole in the plate and the soldering in of a 
new piece of metal, — an expensive process, 
and injurious to the plate. 

The cost of the author's corrections in 
proof is usually apportioned between author 
and publisher, by a clause in the contract 
which stipulates that, if the cost of the au- 
thor's corrections shall exceed an agreed 
percentage of the full cost of the electro- 
plates, the excess shall be charged to the 
author. A fixed sum is sometimes allowed 
in the place of a percentage. 

The author should receive proofs in du- 
plicate; one to be returned corrected to the 
publisher, and the other to be retained by 
himself, so that a duplicate set of corrections 
may be kept on hand while the other set is 
in the hands of the printer, or in case it is 
lost in transit. 

The printer often marks "Qy" on the 
margin of the proof to indicate what appears 



Proof- Reading 51 

to him to be an inconsistency or a misstate- 
ment, which is left to the decision of the 
author. Prompt attention must be paid to 
such queries, and corrections made as early 
as possible. Final proofs are read as care- 
fully, and are as likely to contain these queries, 
as the earlier proofs, and they should there- 
fore be carefully scrutinized. 

The author is always responsible for the 
making of the index. In most works of a 
permanent value there should be a good 
index, and it should be prepared from the 
page proofs after they are finally corrected. 

Few authors know how to make a good 
index with cross references. It will, there- 
fore, be well to ask the publisher to engage 
an expert index-maker. This is not a costly 
matter, unless the index is very full. The 
value of a good book is greatly enhanced 
by a first-class index. 

The cost of correcting the errors of the 
printers will not be charged to the author, 
but the cost of corrections made by the 
author will mount up more quickly than 



52 A Practical Guide for Authors 

an inexperienced writer would suspect. The 
best economy is to make the manuscript as 
nearly perfect as possible before it is sent 
to the printer. Still, with the most skillful 
proof-reading, the author may wish to make 
a change even in the plate, and the cost of 
a necessary correction is less to be dreaded 
than the printing of an imperfect book. 
When cuts or illustrations are to be inserted 
in the text, the author should receive his 
proof in galley strips. This will enable him 
to attach the cuts when he corrects the proof. 
Until the cuts are in their proper positions 
in the galley proof, it cannot be divided into 
pages. 

The author should receive proofs of the 
illustrations. If they are text cuts and are 
not sent with the proof of the text, the author 
should not go ahead without them, but should 
write for them at once. The proofs of the 
cuts should be attached to their proper 
places on the galley proof. If the printer 
receives galley proofs without instructions 
as to the placing of the cuts, he may make up 



Proof- Reading 53 

the matter into pages without leaving spaces 
for the cuts. This will entail expensive 
changes, as compositors are paid by the 
hour when making corrections. The pages 
in such a case will have to be made over 
entirely. 

If the author is seriously dissatisfied with 
the work of the printer, a prompt complaint 
to the publisher is the quickest way to clear 
up a misunderstanding, and to save expense. 

Tardiness or negligence on the part of the 
printer should be promptly reported to the 
publisher. 



SIGNS USED IN PROOF-READING 



£ 


Take out; delete. 


o 


A period. 


X, 


A broken letter. 


ita£. 


Italics. 


*ta{ 


Let it stand, or, It is correct as it is. 


• • • • • V; 

1 


Push down the lead which is 




showing with the type. 


9 


Turn the letter right side up. 


D 


Indent one EM. 


II 


Straighten up the type line at the 




side of the page. 


«* 


A hyphen. 


% 


Take out the letter and close up. 


<3 


Take out the space and close up. 


^ 


Straighten the crooked lines. 


! V 


Raise the word, or the letter. 


1 1 


Lower the word, or the letter. 


#. 


Let there be a space. 


/j&obaz ou4 Spread the words, or the letters, 




farther apart. 



Signs used in Proof-Reading 55 

{&cuL Lead or widen the space between 
the lines with a thin metal 
strip. 
I Push it to the left. 

zzn Push it to the right. 
^ Insert an apostrophe. 

V ^ Insert quotation marks. 

5\ Insert a comma. 
A c Use small capitals. 
cafi Use a capital. 
/. c. Use the lower case (small type), 
i. e. not capitals. 
H Let there be a paragraph. 
-rbo>% Run on without a paragraph. 
c&rithsi Put in the middle of the page, or 

the line. 
ov&Ajvk Cany over to the next line. 
A Indicates where to insert a letter 
or phrase. 
ur.fi Wrong font — size or style of type. 

A. Transpose. 
fiartf. Kind of type. 
/urm. Use Roman letter. 
$y. oi, (?) Doubt as to spelling, etc. 



56 A Practical Guide for Authors 



TTTT J 



Indicates CAPITAL letters. 
Indicates small capital letters. 
Indicates italic letters. 
Indicates black type letters. 
Indicates BLACK CAPITALS. 
Indicates black small capitals. 
Indicates black italic. 
An EM dash. Denotes a break. 
Points or asterisks. Denote words 

left out. 
Denotes 



SIZES OF 


TYPE GENERALLY USED 






IN BOOKS 


5 


point 


Pearl 


5i 


ii 


Agate 


6 


<< 


. Nonpareil 


7 


<< 


Minion 


8 


« 


Brevier 


9 


M 


Bourgeois 


10 


(( 


Long Primer, or 2-line Pearl 


11 


a 


Small Pica, or 2-line Agate 


12 


a 


Pica, or 2-line Nonpareil 


14 


it 


English, or 2-line Minion 


16 


« 


Columbian, or 2-line 




Brevier 



18 



jGreat Primer, or 
1 2-line Bourgeois 



There are many other sizes of type, but 
the foregoing are practically all that are used 
in general book-making. The kind of type 
will depend on the printer's stock of avail- 
able types or "fonts," or on his and the 
author's taste. 



PROOF WITH CORRECTIONS 

AMERICAN T/XATION. **f 

I— I Sir,^ I agree with the honourable g entl em an w fc ^ 
3&t s P°ke last , *htt» this subject is not new in this House. 

, Very disagreeably to this House, veryunfortunately jf? 
HQAiCAlto this y* , and to the peace ana prosperity of 

w ' this whole empire, Dflo topic has been more familiar C.C • 

no n CFor nine long years, session after session, we 
» have been lashed round and round thisjpniserable *■* 

circle of occasional arguments and temporary ex- 
1—/ pedients. ^ am ^ dre our heads/n^JJ^turn, and our I I / 
>C stcmachs nauseate with them. We havgJiacrTnem o4Tf 
in every shape ; we have locked «^«Ktnem in every s#£ 9 
$/>&£€ point^f^view Invention is exhausted; reason is 

<<£ fatigued ; experienrfce has given judgment ; but ^ 
fy obstinacy is not yet conqueredV /he honourable J 
OP of public bonovolonoo gentleman has made one 
endeavour more to diversify the form of this dis- * 
Q/ gusting argument^ He has thrown out zj speech ** 
composed almost entirely of challenges, challenges 



sare serious things ; and as he is a man of prudence 
^as well as resolution, I daresay he has very well 

weighed those challenges before he delivered them . *Wm* 
I had long the happiness to sit/fhe\at|same side of 2£ 
/& the House/yand to agree with the honourable gentle- 
st,/ man ^ all the American questions. My senti- 

ttaic (Speech on American Taxation by Edmund Burke. Re^ / 

printed, by permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Company , S0C9 
\£J* from/The Riverside Literature Series. . ^ " y ^ * I 



CORRECTED PROOF 

AMERICAN TAXATION. 

Sir, — I agree with the honourable gentleman who 
spoke last, that this subject is not new in this House. 
Very disagreeably to this House, very unfortunately 
to this nation, and to the peace and prosperity of 
this whole empire, no topic has been more familiar 
with us. For nine long years, session after session, 
we have been lashed round and round this misera- 
ble circle of occasional arguments and temporary 
expedients. I am sure our heads must turn, and 
our stomachs nauseate with them. We have had 
them in every shape; we have looked at them in 
every point of view. Invention is exhausted ; rea- 
son is fatigued ; experience has given judgment ; 
but obstinacy is not yet conquered. 

The honourable gentleman has made one en- 
deavour more to diversify the form of this dis- 
gusting argument. He has thrown out a speech 
composed almost entirely of challenges. Challenges 
are serious things; and as he is a man of prudence 
as well as resolution, I daresay he has very well 
weighed those challenges before he delivered them. 
I had long the happiness to sit at the same side of 
the House, and to agree with the honourable gentle- 
man on all the American questions. My sentiment 

(Speech on American Taxation by Edmund Burke. Re- 
printed, by permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Company, 
from "The Riverside Literature Series.") 



AMERICAN RULES FOR SPELLING 
AND PUNCTUATION, ETC. 1 

Spelling and punctuation are dealt with 
in the following section, which is reprinted 
from the excellent pamphlet prepared for 
the use of their compositors by Messrs. 
J. S. Cushing & Co., the well-known printers 
of Norwood, Mass. Printers will carry out 
an author's explicit instructions as to spelling 
and punctuation. Office rules are followed 
in the absence of special instructions. Print- 
ers differ over a few points; but in the main 
the following rules apply also to the practice 
of The Riverside Press, The University Press, 
The Athenaeum Press, of Cambridge, Mass. ; 
The Merrymount Press, of Boston; The 
Knickerbocker Press, The De Vinne Press, 
The Trow Press, of New York ; and, indeed, 
of any well-managed printing house. 

1 If an author wishes his book to be sold to English as well 
as to American readers, a sagacious publisher will advise him 
to use the "u" in spelling the words "honour," "colour," etc., 
and to avoid "spelling reform" fads. The English are entitled 
to their prejudices. 



American Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 61 

Notice as to preference in spelling and 
punctuation, etc., should be clearly stated 
on the manuscript, or given to the pub- 
lishers before the work is sent to the printers. 

CONTENTS OF THIS SECTION 

Spellings pre) 'erred by both Worcester and Webster . 62 

Spellings on which dictionaries differ 63 

English and American practice in spelling ... 67 

Preferences in spelling miscellaneous words , . . 68 

Compounds 69 

Adverbs 71 

Division of words 71 

Capitals : 72 

Punctuation , ... 75 

Miscellaneous points of style 78 

Numbers 80 

Spacing 81 

O and Oh 81 

Spelling of the Century and Standard Dictionaries 82 



62 A Practical Guide for Authors 



i. The following spellings are preferred 
by both Worcester and Webster: — 



abridgment 


disk 


intrust 


aesthetic 


drought 


lackey 


bazaar 


dryly 


manikin 


behoove 


embarkation 


mediaeval 


benefited, -ing 


embed 


mollusk 


blond (adj.) 


empale 


mustache 


blonde (n.) 


filigree 


naught 


bouquet 


gayety 


paralleled, -ing 


brier 


gayly 


poniard 


caliber 


glamour 


postilion 


calk 


good-by 


programme 


caravansary 


gossiped, -ing 


pygmy 


carcass 


gypsy 


raccoon 


check 


halyard 


reenforce 


checkered 


humbugged, -ing 


1 riveted, -ing 


clew 


incase 


sandbagged, -in 


combated, -ing 


incrust 


shyly 


corselet 


indorse 


slyly 


cotillon 


infold 


sobriquet 


criticise 


ingrain 


stanch 


crystallize 


ingulf 


story (a floor) 


demarcation 


inquire 


thraldom 


dike (except in 


insure 


veranda 


geological 


inthrall 


visor 


meaning) 


intrench 


zigzagged, -ing 



1 There is nothing irregular in these forms, which are given 
because frequently misspelled. Compare -fidgeted, inhabited, 
and profited. But similar verbs, when accented on the final 
syllable, double the consonant, according to both dictionaries, 
— e.g. admit, admitted, admitting; permit, permitted, permitting ; 
regret, regretted, regretting. 



American Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 63 

2. The dictionaries differ on the follow- 
ing words : — 



Worcester 


Webster 


accoutre 


accouter 


aide-de-camp 


aid-de-camp 


amphitheatre 


amphitheater 


1 apparelled 


appareled 


axe 


ax 


ay (yes) 


aye 


1 biassed 


biased 


boulder 


bowlder 


1 carolled 


caroled 


centre 


center 


chiccory 


chicory 


cimeter 


scimeter 


cosey, cosily 


cozy, cozily 


councillor 


councilor 


counsellor 


counselor 


1 crenellated 


crenelated 


cyclopaedia 


cyclopedia 


defence 


defense 


despatch 


dispatch 



1 The past tense is here given for illustration, but it is of 
course understood that the present participle is formed on 
the same principle, e.g. apparelling, appareling ; tranquillizing, 
tranquilizing; worshipping, worshiping. This list contains 
only a few of the more common verbs of the class ending in al, 
el, il, and ol, but enough to show the principle on which the two 
dictionaries work in forming their past tense and participle. 
Verbs of this class accented on the final syllable have the same 
form in both Worcester and Webster, — e.g. impel, impelled, 
impelling ; propel, propelled, propelling ; etc. 



64 A Practical Guide for Authors 



Worcester 


Webster 


1 dishevelled 


disheveled 


distil 


distill 


2 dominos (a game) 


dominoes 


dulness 


dullness 


enamour 


enamor 


enclose 


inclose 


encumbrance 


incumbrance 


enrolment 


enrollment 


ensnare 


insnare 


1 equalled 


equaled 


fetich 


fetish 


fibre 


fiber 


fledgling 


fledgeling 


1 focussed 


focused 


2 frescos 


frescoes 


fulfil 


fulfill 


fulness 


fullness 


gramme 


gram 


2 grottos 


grottoes 



1 See note 1, page 63. 

2 The rule for nouns ending in is : If the singular ends in 
preceded by another vowel, the plural is formed regularly by 
adding s, — e.g. bamboo, bamboos ; cameo, cameos ; embryo, 
embryos; folio, folios. If in preceded by a consonant, by add- 
ing es, — e.g. bufjalo, bufjaloes ; desperado, desperadoes ; echo, 
echoes ; hero, heroes ; mosquito, mosquitoes ; motto, mottoes ; 
potato, potatoes. But the following exceptions add s only : — 



albino 


duodecimo 


piano 


sirocco 


canto 


halo 


proviso 


solo 


cento 


lasso 


quarto 


stiletto 


domino (when 


memento 


rotundo 


torso 


not the game 


octavo 


salvo 


tyro 



American Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 65 

Worcester Webster 



guerilla 
1 imperilled 

instalment 

instil 

jewellery 
1 kidnapped 
1 libelled 

litre 

lodgement 

lustre 

manoeuvre 

marvellous 

maugre 

meagre 

metre 

millionnaire 

mitre 

1 modelled 
mould, -ing 
nitre 
ochre 

oesophagus 
offence 
pacha 
pedler 
phoenix 
plough 

2 porticos 
practise (v.) 
pretence 

See note i, page 63. 



guerrilla 

imperiled 

installment 

instill 

jewelry 

kidnaped 

libeled 

liter 

lodgment 

luster 

maneuver 

marvelous 

mauger 

meager 

meter 

millionaire 

miter 

modeled 

mold, -ing 

niter 

ocher 

esophagus 

offense 

pasha 

peddler 

phenix 

plow 

porticoes 

practice (v.) 

pretense 

See note 2, page 64. 



66 A Practical Guide for Authors 



Worcester 


Webster 


1 quarrelled 


quarreled 


reconnoitre 


reconnoiter 


revery 


reverie 


1 rivalled 


rivaled 


sabre 


saber 


saltpetre 


saltpeter 


saviour 


savior 


sceptic 


skeptic 


sceptre 


scepter 


sepulchre 


sepulcher 


Shakespearian 


Shakespearean 


1 shrivelled 


shriveled 


skilful 


skillful 


smoulder 


smolder 


sombre 


somber 


spectre 


specter 


1 sulphuretted 


sulphureted 


syrup 


sirup 


theatre 


theater 


1 tranquillize 


tranquilize 


1 travelled, -er 


traveled, -er 


vice (a tool) 


vise 


villanous, -y 


villainous, -y 


whiskey 


whisky 


wilful 


willful 


woful 


woeful 


woollen 


woolen 


1 worshipped, -er 


worshiped, -er 


See note i, page 63. 


2 See note 2, page 64. 



American Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 67 

3. English Spelling. — In the English 
style of spelling, many words which in Amer- 
ican dictionaries end in or, end in our. Words 
thus ending in our are: — 



arbour 


favour 


parlour 


ardour 


fervour 


rancour 


armour 


flavour 


rigour 


behaviour 


harbour 


rumour 


candour 


honour 


savour 


clamour 


humour 


splendour 


clangour 


invigour 


succour 


colour 


labour 


tabour 


demeanour 


misbehaviour 


tumour 


discolour 


misdemeanour 


valour 


dolour 


neighbour 


vapour 


endeavour 


odour 


vigour 



Note that discoloration, invigorate, invig- 
oration, pallor, and tremor do not take the u. 

When an adjective is formed from any of 
the above words by adding ous, the ending 
of the original word is simply or, as in Ameri- 
can dictionaries, — e.g. clamorous, dolorous, 
humorous, laborious. 

While the our-words are always found in 
English spelling, it is only occasionally that 
English books follow the style which changes 



68 A Practical Guide for Authors 

verbs ending, in American dictionaries, in ize 
to ise, — e.g. civilise, realise, utilise. When 
this style is used, note that baptize always 
retains the z spelling. 

Distinctively English spellings (sometimes 
used and sometimes not) are the forms 
anyone, everyone, someone, and for ever, and 
the following : — 



behove 


gaily 


reflexion 


briar 


gipsy 


shily 


connexion 


inflexion 


slily 


drily 


judgement 


staunch 


enquire 


lacquey 


storey (a floor) 


entrust 


pigmy 


verandah 


gaiety 


postillion 





For words which have more than one 
spelling in American dictionaries — e.g. cen- 
tre, counsellor — use Worcester. Compos- 
itors should ascertain to what extent the 
English style is to be followed on copy given 
out as taking the English spelling. The two 
important points to be borne in mind are 
the our- and ise- words. 

4. Miscellaneous Words. — Give prefer- 
ence to the following forms : — 



American Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 69 



byways 


highroad 


subject-matter 


courtyard 


knickknack 


text-book 


downstairs 


long-suffering 


thoroughgoing 


employee 


lookout 


upstairs 


everyday 


newcomer 


well-nigh 


halfway 
headquarters 


nowadays 
shan't 


widespread 



By and by and by the bye are the right 
forms. Vender is ordinary usage, vendor the 
form used in law. Good day, good night, 
two words always. 

COMPOUNDS 
Follow the style given below on com- 
pounds : — 

Co, pre, and re. — With words beginning with the 
same vowel: cooperate, preempt, reembark, etc.; with a 
consonant or different vowel: colaborer, preoccupy, 
reconstruct, etc.; but where a word having a different 
meaning from that desired would be formed : re-creation, 
re-collect, etc. 

Colors. — Adjectives in ish : bluish red, yellowish 
green, etc.; but a noun compounded with a color: 
enter aid- green, iron-gray, ivory-black, pearl-gray, etc. 

Ever. — Ever changing sea, ever memorable scene, ever 
watchful eye, forever emptied cradle, never ending talk, 
etc. 

Fellow. — Fellow-citizens, fellow-men, fellow- soldiers, 
etc. Fellowship is the sole exception. 



70 A Practical Guide for Authors 

Fold. — Words of one syllable: twofold, tenfold, etc.; 
of more than one: twenty fold, hundred fold, etc. 

Half. — With adjectives: half -dead man, etc. (but I 
was half dead with shame) ; with verbs: half conceal, 
half understand, etc. ; also half a dozen, half an hour. 

Like. — Businesslike, childlike, warlike, etc., except 
ball-like, bell-like, etc., and very unusual compounds: 
miniature-like, Mohammedan-like, etc. 

Over and Under. — With verbs and adjectives, one 
word : overbold, overestimate, overreach, underdressed. 

Party. — Party-coated, party-colored (and use this 
spelling). 

Points of the Compass. — Northeast, southwest; 
north-northeast, west-southwest, etc. 

Room. — Breakfast room, dining room, sleeping room, 
etc. ; * but bedroom and drawing-room. 

School. — Schoolboy, schoolfellow, schoolgirl, school- 
house, schoolmaster, schoolmistress, schoolroom; school 
board, school children, school committee, school days, 
school district; school-ship, school-teacher, school-teaching. 

Self. — Self-absorbed, self -contempt, self-respect, etc.; 
but selfsame. 

Skin. — Words of one syllable: calfskin, goatskin, 
etc.; of more than one: beaver skin, buffalo skin, etc. 

Tree. — Always two words: apple tree, forest tree, 
fruit tree, etc. 

An adverb and a participial adjective or 
a participle before a noun: prettily dressed 
girl, rapidly approaching winter, etc. 

1 Some printers hyphenate these. 



American Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 71 

Anyway, Nowise, Awhile, Meanwhile, and 
Meantime 

Distinguish between the adverb anyway 
and the phrase in any way, nowise and in no 
wise, and awhile and for a while. Always 
make meantime and meanwhile one word: 
meantime, in the meantime, meanwhile, and 
in the meanwhile. 

DIVISION OF WORDS 

Divide when possible, and when it is a 
correct division, on the vowel: proposition, 
not proposition. 

Avoid two-letter divisions where possible. 

Avoid making the last line of a paragraph 
part of a divided word. 

In present participles carry over the ing: 
divid-ing, mak-ing, forc-ing, charg-ing (but 
twin-kling, chuc-kling, dan-cing, etc.). 

Divide: deri-sion, division, provision, 
reli-gion, etc. 

Divide: fea-ture, for-tune, pic-ture, pre- 
sump-tuous, etc. 

Divide in all cases espe-cial, inhabit-ant, 



72 A Practical Guide for Authors 

pecul-iar, pro-cess, know-ledge, atmos-phere, 
and hemisphere. 

Observe the following divisions: Wor. 
brill-iant, Web. bril-liant; Wor. jamil-i- 
arity, Web. jamil-iar-ity; Wor. mill-ion, 
Web. mil-lion; Wor. pecu-li-arity, Web. 
pecul-iar-ity ; Wor. press-ure, Web. j£>m- 
swe; Wor. Ind-ian, Web. In-dian; Wor. 
Will-iam, Web. Wil-liam. 

CAPITALS 

Constitution of the United States should 
always be capitalized. 

Czar, etc. — Capitalize Czar, Pope, Presi- 
dent (of United States), Sultan (of Turkey), 
Dauphin, Bey (of Tunis), Khedive (of 
Egypt). 

Day. — Capitalize Thanksgiving Day, 
New Year's Day, Lord's Day, Founder's 
Day, Commencement Day, etc. 

De, Von, etc. — Capitalize names from 
foreign languages preceded by a preposition, 
when used without a title or a Christian 
name: De La Fayette, De' Medici, Der 



American Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 73 

Hougassoff, Von Stein; but Marquis de La 
Fayette, Catherine de' Medici, General der 
Hougassoff, Baron von Stein. 

Headings. — In chapter headings, side 
headings, names of books, etc., set in capi- 
tals and small capitals, or upper and lower 
case, capitalize nouns and adjectives only. 
As You Like It, Love's Labor 's Lost, and 
similar titles are exceptions. 

Heaven. — Capitalize Heaven when it 
stands for the Deity; as a place, lower case. 
Hell and paradise always lower case. 

He, His, etc. — Capitalize He, His, Him, 
Thou, etc., referring to members of the Trin- 
ity (except in extracts from the Bible). 

His Majesty, etc. — Capitalize all except 
the pronoun in his Majesty, their Royal 
Highnesses, your Excellency, his Lordship, 
etc. 

House. — Lower case house 0} Hanover, 
house of Suabia, etc. 

King, etc. — Capitalize King John, Bishop 
of Rheims, Duke of York, Emperor of Aus- 
tria, etc.; but lower case king of England, 



74 A Practical Guide for Authors 

queen of Sweden, prince of France, etc. (ex- 
cept the Prince of Orange and Prince of 
Wales, and other mere titles with Prince). 

Middle Ages should be capitalized. 

Mountains. — Appalachian Mountains, 
White Mountains, etc. 

New World, Old World, New York City, 
New York State, Papacy (but lower case 
papal), Oriental, and Occidental should be 
capitalized. 

River, Lake, War, Valley, battle of, peace 
of, treaty of, etc. — Capitalize in cases like 
Hudson River, Crystal Lake, Seven Years' 
War, Connecticut Valley, etc.; but note the 
plurals: Hudson and Mohawk rivers, the 
Seven Years' and the Hundred Years' wars, 
although Lakes Huron and Michigan. Lower 
case the river Charles, etc., and battle of 
Waterloo, treaty of Luneville, peace of 
Amiens, etc. 

State, etc. — Lower case state (except 
New York State), commonwealth, and terri- 
tory (except Indian Territory, Northwest 
Territory). Note Southern states, Eastern 



American Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 75 

states, etc. But capitalize State meaning the 
government, as well as Church standing for 
the ecclesiastical authority or influence. 

Titles used in direct address should be 
capitalized. 1 

PUNCTUATION 

Said he, quietly, etc.— Correct style: Said 
he, quietly (but he said quietly)) said he, 
laughing; and he said, laughing. 

Comma in Series. — Correct style : George, 
John, and James are here; handsome, rich, but 
unhappy; he could not read, write, or figure. 
But this style does not apply to United States 
Law. 

Comma before Quotation. — Before a quo- 
tation in a paragraph, if of one sentence use 
a comma, if of more than one use a colon. 

As follows. — At the end of a paragraph, 
after phrases like as follows, the following, 
thus, and namely, and words like said, 
remarked, etc., use the colon and dash 
(except in mathematical work). 

1 The above rules for capitalizing are not followed by all 
printers. 



76 A Practical Guide for Authors 

Comma and Semicolon. — In sentences 
containing two sets of subjects and predi- 
cates — in other words, two clauses — con- 
nected by and, but, or some similar conjunc- 
tion, the clauses should be separated by at 
least a comma; and if either clause is very 
long or contains a subordinate clause, use 
a semicolon. The foregoing sentence illus- 
trates the use of the semicolon. 

Quotation Marks. — In sentences terminat- 
ing in the close of a quotation and an excla- 
mation point or an interrogation point, do 
not quote the punctuation unless it is part of 
the quotation : — 

How absurd to call this stripling a "man"! 
but He cried out, "Wake up, something is going 
wrong! " 

In the case of a semicolon and the close of 
a quotation, if the quoted matter consists of 
one or two words or a mere phrase, do not 
quote the semicolon; but if a complete sub- 
ject and predicate is included within the 
quotation marks, some printers quote the 
semicolon too : — 



American Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 77 

The punctuation of "Tristram Shandy " will naturally 
differ from that of the " Rambler"; and in a less degree 
the punctuation in Burke, etc. 

Sir Walter said to him, "My friend, give me your 
hand, for mine is that of a beggar;" for, in truth, the 
house, etc. 

If the style of a book is to quote verse, 
letters, and other extracts, in poetry a new 
quote should begin on every new stanza, in 
prose on every paragraph and break-line. 
But in extracts from plays, place a quotation 
mark before the first word only of the ex- 
tract, and end after the last word. The proper 
form for quotes at the beginning and end of 
a letter is as follows : ■ — 

"6 Scrope Terrace, Cambridge, 
"June 20, 1898. 

"Dear Sir: With reference to the Vortexatom 
Theory, I would * * * concerned is very 
complex. 

"Believe me 

"Yours very truly, 

"J. J. Thomson. 
"Professor S. W. Holman." 

1 Some printers never quote complete documents. 



78 A Practical Guide for Authors 

MISCELLANEOUS POINTS OF STYLE 

2d, Jd, not 2nd, Jrd. 

Forward, toward, etc., not forwards, to- 
wards, etc. 

Ms. and Mss. should be caps, and small 
caps. : Ms., Mss. [Some prefer caps. : MS., 
MSS.] 

B. C. and A. D. — Date before the letters, 
and letters in small caps. : 14 B. c, 28 a. d. 

A. M. and P. M. (for ante meridiem and 
post meridiem) in small caps. : A. M., P. M. 

$ and £ should always be close up to the 
number with which they belong, except in 
mathematical work. 

Henrys, Jerseys, Mussulmans, and the 
Two Sicilies are the correct plurals. 

An abbreviation — e.g., Fig., § — or a num- 
ber should not begin a sentence. Always 
spell out. 

Spell out titles like Colonel, General, and 
Professor (except in lists of names, cata- 
logues, etc.); but Dr., Hon., Mr., Mrs., 
Messrs., and Rev., occurring before a name, 
are proper abbreviations. 



American Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 79 

E.g., i.e., I.e., and s.v. should always be 
Italic when placed between, after, or before 
words in Roman, take no comma, and should 
be close up together. In Italic sentences 
they should be Roman. C}., sc, and viz. 
should always be Roman. 

Possessive Case. — To form the possess- 
ive singular add the apostrophe and s: 
Keats' s, countess's; except in the phrases for 
conscience' sake, for goodness' sake, for right- 
eousness' sake, etc., and in the case of a few 
words like Jesus, Moses, Achilles, Hercules, 
and Xerxes. 

Farther and Further. — Farther is applied 
to distance, — e.g. thus far and no farther, 
farther up the hill; further signifies "ad- 
ditional," — e.g. I have no further use for 
you, Further consideration of the matter. 

Books, Magazines, Ships, etc. — Names 
of books, plays, and paintings should be 
Roman and quoted, of magazines and pa- 
pers Italic, 1 and of characters in books, plays, 
etc., plain Roman without quotes. (But in 

1 De italicis quot homines tot sententiae. — W. S. B. 



80 A Practical Guide for Authors 

footnotes and side- notes books may go in 
Italic.) In general, poems should be Roman 
and quoted. Names of articles in maga- 
zines or cyclopaedias should be Roman and 
quoted. Names of ships set in Italic. In cita- 
tion of papers and magazines, do not treat 
the definite article the as part of the name, — 
e.g. the Century, the Chicago Inter-Ocean, 
the New York Herald. 

Numbers. — Spell out all numbers of less 
than three figures, and all round numbers. 
Numbers of three or more figures set in fig- 
ures. By round numbers are meant hun- 
dreds, thousands, etc., and all multiples of 
hundreds, thousands, etc. (When numbers 
occur in great frequency in a single para- 
graph or chapter, all numbers should be set 
in figures. Round numbers should also be set 
in figures when coming in close contrast with 
numbers not round. In United States Law 
and legal works in general, inquiry should 
be made as to the style to be followed.) 
Cases like 2300 should be spelled twenty-three 
hundred, not two thousand three hundred. 



American Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 81 

The comma should be used only in numbers 
of five or more figures: 5560, but 55,670. 

Spacing. — En quads should be used to 
space the last line of a paragraph only when 
the lines above and below are wide spaced. 
Otherwise the ordinary 3-em spaces should 
be used. 

Always put a thin space after Italic/ where 
it ends a line and before Italic/,/, and p at 
the beginning of lines, and before or after 
such other letters as would suffer mutilation 
without such spacing. Roman/ in Caslon in 
especial requires this thin space after it, as 
well as in some other old-style types, but none 
of the Roman modern-faced types need it. 

"0" and "Oh" 

O is an expression used (a) in directly 
addressing a person or a personified object; 
(b) in uttering a wish; and (c) to express 
surprise, indignation, or regret, when it is 
frequently followed by an ellipsis and that : 

a. O Lord, have mercy bn us! 

Break on thy cold gray stones, O sea! 



82 A Practical Guide for Authors 

b. O that I had wings like a dove! 
O for rest and peace! 

c. O [It is sad] that such eyes should e'er meet other 

object ! 

O is also used in the expressions O dear 
and O dear me. 

Oh is used (a) as an interjection, and (&) as 
the colloquial introduction to a sentence : — 

a. Oh! my offence is rank. 
Oh, how could you do it? 

b. Oh, John, will you close the door? 
Oh, yes, with pleasure. 

Century and Standard Dictionaries. — The 

following lists are appended solely for refer- 
ence purposes. The spellings they contain are 
not to be regarded as authority except for 
work on which special instructions have been 
given to follow the Century or the Standard 
Dictionary. Both of these dictionaries use 
the er-ending in words like caliber, fiber, and 
theater, except accoutre in the Century and 
maugre in both Century and Standard; both 
form the past tense and the participle in 
cases like appareled, appareling, biased, 
biasing, and worshiped, worshiping, after the 



American Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 83 

model of Webster (see p. 63, § 2, above), 
with the exception of kidnapped, kidnapping, 
in the Century; and both use the ^-spelling in 
the words defense, offense, and pretense. It is 
not considered necessary after this statement 
to include these classes of words below. 

Both Century and Standard prefer the fol- 
lowing spellings : — 



abridgment 


cozy 


esophagus 


inquire 


ax 


crenelated 


esthetic 


instalment 


aye (yes) 


criticize 


fetish 


instil 


bazaar 


cyclopedia 


filigree 


insure 


behoove 


demarcation 


fledgling 


jewelry 


blond (adj. 


despatch 


frescos 


lackey 


and n.) 


dieresis 


fulfil 


lodgment 


boulder 


dike 


gaiety 


manikin 


bouquet 


disk 


gaily 


marvelous 


brier 


distil 


gipsy 


medieval 


calk 


dominoes (a 


glamour 


millionaire 


caravansary 


game) 


good-by 


mold 


carcass 


drought 


gram 


mollusk 


check 


dryly 


grottoes 


mustache 


checkered 


embarkation 


guerrilla 


naught 


chicory 


embed 


halyard 


pasha 


clue 


encumbrance 


incase 


phenix 


corselet 


engulf 


incrust 


plow 


cotillion 


enroll 


indorse 


poniard 


councilor 


enrolment 


infold 


postilion 


counselor 


enthrall 


ingrain 


program 



84 A Practical Guide for Authors 



pygmy 


slyly 


veranda 


reverie 


smolder 


villainous, -y 


savior (one who 


sobriquet 


vise (a tool) 


saves) 


stanch 


vizor 


Saviour (Christ) 


story (a floor) 


whisky 


shyly 


Tatar (a native 


of wilful 


simitar 


Tatary) 


woolen 


skeptic 


thraldom 


zigzagged, -ing 


skilful 


tranquilize 




The Century prefers the 


following : — 


accoutre 


insnare 


practice (n.) 


aide-de-camp 


intrench 


practise (v.) 


dullness 


intrust 


racoon 


enamour 


kidnapped, -ing 


reinforce 


envelop (n.) 


manceuver 


syrup 


fullness 


peddler 


woeful 


inclose 


porticos 




The Standard prefers the 


following : — 


aid-de-camp 


entrench 


practise («. 


dulness 


entrust 


and v.) 


empale 


fulness 


raccoon 


enamor 


maneuver 


sirup 


enclose 


pedler 


woful 


ensnare 


porticoes 





Distinctive Standard spellings are, cooper- 
ate, preempt, reenjorce, etc. 



ENGLISH RULES FOR SPELLING, 
PUNCTUATION, ETC. 1 

The following section is taken from the 
nineteenth edition of the valuable pamphlet 
compiled for the use of compositors and 
readers at the University Press at Oxford, 
England, by Mr. Horace Hart, Printer to the 
University of Oxford; Dr. J. A. H. Murray 
and Dr. Henry Bradley, Editors of the New 
English Dictionary; Mr. H. Stuart Jones, 
and Professor Robinson Ellis. It comprises 
the best English usage, and can be com- 
pared with the best American usage shown 
in the preceding section compiled by Messrs. 
J. S. Cushing & Company at the Norwood 
Press. 

These English Rules apply generally; 
but directions to the contrary may be given 

1 In a Bible house especially, it must always be remembered 
that the Bible has a spelling of its own; and that in Bible and 
Prayer Book printing the Oxford standards are to be exactly 
followed. — H H. 



86 A Practical Guide for Authors 

in cases of works to be printed for houses 
which have also adopted a style of their 



own. 



CONTENTS OF THIS SECTION 

Some Words ending in -able 88 

Some Words ending in -ise or -ize 89 

Some Words ending in -ment 91 

Some Alternative or Difficult Spellings .... 92 

Doubling Consonants with Suffixes 97 

In Poetry, Words ending in -ed, -ed 98 

Formation of Plurals in Words of Foreign Origin 99 

Phonetic Spellings 101 

Digraphs 101 

Foreign Words and Phrases when to be set in Roman 

and when in Italic 102 

Hyphens 104 

To print Contractions 107 

Capital Letters 112 

Small Capitals ... 113 

Lower-case Initials 114 

Special Signs or Symbols lfi4 

Spacing 115 

Italic Type 117 

Division of Words — 

I. English 118 

II. Some Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish . . 120 

Punctuation 120 

Figures and Numerals 134 

Errata; Erratum 137 

A or An 138 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 87 

Nor and Or 138 

Possessive Case of Proper Names 

By Dr. J. A. H. Murray 139 

Works in the French Language 141 

Works in the German Language 163 

Division of Latin Words 

By Prof. Robinson Ellis 171 

Division of Greek Words 

By Mr. H. Stuart Jones 172 



88 A Practical Guide for Authors 



SOME WORDS ENDING IN -ABLE 

Words ending in silent e generally lose 
e when -able is added, as — 



adorable 
arguable 



desirable 
excusable 



indispensable 
leisurable 



But this rule is open to exceptions, as to 
which authorities are not agreed. The fol- 
lowing spellings are in the New English 
Dictionary, and must be followed : — 



advisable 


dilatable 


linable 


analysable 


dissolvable 


liveable 


ascribable 


endorsable 


lovable 


atonable 


evadable 


movable 


baptizable 


excisable 


nameable 


believable 


exercisable 


provable 


blameable 


finable 


rateable 


bribable 


forgivable 


rebukeable 


chaseable 


framable 


receivable 


connnable 


immovable 


reconcilable 


conversable 


improvable 


removable 


creatable 


inflatable 


saleable 


datable 


irreconcilable 


solvable 


debatable 


lapsable 


tameable 


defamable 


likeable 


tuneable 


definable 







English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 89 

If -able is preceded by ce or ge, the e should 
be retained, to preserve the soft sound of c 
or g, as — 

changeable lodgeable peaceable 

chargeable manageable serviceable 

knowledgeable noticeable 

Words ending in double ee retain both 
letters, as — agreeable. 

In words of English formation, a final con- 
sonant is usually doubled before -able, as — 



admittable 


deferrable 


incurrable 


biddable 


forgettable 


rebuttable 


clubbable 


gettable 


regrettable 


conferrable 1 







SOME WORDS ENDING IN -ISE or -IZE 

The following spellings are those adopted 
for the New English Dictionary; — 



actualize 


alcoholize 


apostrophize 


advertise 


alkalize 


apprise (to in- 


advise 


anathematize 


form) 


affranchise 


anatomize 


apprize (to ap- 


aggrandize 


anglicize 


praise) 


agonize 


apologize 


authorize 



1 For an authoritative statement on the whole subject see 
the New English Dictionary, Vol. I, p. 910, art. -ble. 



90 A Practical Guide for Authors 



baptize 


emphasize 


improvise 


brutalize 


emprise 


incise 


canonize 


enfranchise 


italicize 


capitalize 


enterprise 


jacobinize 


capsize 


epigrammatize 


jeopardize 


carbonize 


epitomize 


kyanize 


catechize 


equalize 


latinize 


categorize 


eternize 


legalize 


cauterize 


etherealize 


localize 


centralize 


eulogize 


macadamize 


characterize 


evangelize 


magnetize 


chastise 


excise 


mainprize 


christianize 


exercise 


manumise 


cicatrize 


exorcize 


materialize 


circumcise 


extemporize 


memorialize 


civilize 


familiarize 


memorize 


colonize 


fertilize 


merchandise 


comprise 


formalize 


mesmerize 


compromise 


fossilize 


methodize 


contrariwise 


franchise 


minimize 


criticize 


fraternize 


mobilize 


crystallize 


gallicize 


modernize 


demise 


galvanize 


monopolize 


demoralize 


generalize 


moralize 


deodorize 


germanize 


nationalize 


desilverize 


gormandize 


naturalize 


despise 


graecize 


neutralize 


devise 


harmonize 


organize 


disfranchise 


humanize 


ostracize 


disguise 


hydrogenize 


oxidize 


disorganize 


idealize 


ozonize 


dogmatize 


idolize 


particularize 


economize 


immortalize 


patronize 



English Spelling j Punctuation, etc. 91 



pauperize 


scandalize 


surprise 


penalize 


scrutinize 


syllogize 


philosophize 


secularize 


symbolize 


plagiarize 


seise (in law) 


sympathize 


pluralize 


seize (to grasp) 


synthesize 


polarize 


sensitize 


systematize 


popularize 


signalize 


tantalize 


premise 


silverize 


temporize 


prise up (to) 


solemnize 


terrorize 


prize (a) 


soliloquize 


tranquillize 


pulverize 


specialize 


tyrannize 


rationalize 


spiritualize 


utilize 


realize 


sterilize 


ventriloquize 


recognize 


stigmatize 


victimize 


reprise 


subsidize 


villanize 


revolutionize 


summarize 


visualize 


rhapsodize 


supervise 


vocalize 


romanize 


surmise 


vulgarize 


satirize 







SOME WORDS ENDING IN -MENT 

In words ending in -ment always print the 
e when it occurs in the preceding syllable, 
as — abridgement, acknowledgement, judge- 
ment, lodgement. 1 

1 ( I protest against the unscholarly habit of omitting it from 
" abridgement", " acknowledgement' 1 ', "judgement' \ " lodge- 
ment", — which is against all analogy, etymology, and orthoepy, 
since elsewhere g is hard in English when not followed by e or /. 
I think the University Press ought to set a scholarly example, 
instead of following the ignorant to do ill, for the sake of saving 



92 A Practical Guide for Authors 



SOME ALTERNATIVE OR DIFFICULT 
SPELLINGS 

MORE OR LESS IN DAILY USE, ARRANGED IN ALPHABETI- 
CAL ORDER FOR EASY REFERENCE 



adaptable 


automobile 


by the by 


aerial 


axe 2 


cablegram 


aeronaut 


ay (always) 


calendar 


aglow 


aye (yes ' the ayes 


calligraphy 


almanac 1 


have it ') 


canst 


ambidexterity 


banjos 


canvas (cloth) 


analyse 


Barbadoes 


canvass (political) 


ankle 


bark (ship) 


carcass 


anybody 


battalion 


catarrhine 


any one 


bedroom 


cat's paw 


anything 


befall 


cauldron 


anywhere 


bethrall 


celluloid 


apanage 


bi-weekly 


chant 


apophthegm 


bluish 


chaperon 


apostasy 


bogie (a truck) 


cheque (on a 


armful 


bogy (apparition) 


i bank) 


artisan 


brier 


chequered (career) 


ascendancy 


buffaloes 


chestnut 


assassin 


by and by 


dullness 



four e's. The word "judgement" has been spelt in the Revised 
Version correctly.' — J. A. H. M. 

1 But the k is retained in The Oxford Almanack, following the 
first publication in 1674. — H. H. 

2 In the New English Dictionary, Vol. I, p. 598, Dr. J. A. H. 
Murray says, i The spelling ax is better on every ground . . . 
than axe, which has of late become prevalent.'* (But as authors 
generally still call for the commoner spelling, compositors must 
follow it. — H. H.) 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc, 93 



cider 


courts martial 


easy chair 


cipher 


curtsy 


ecstasy 


clench (fists) 


dare say 


embarkation 


clinch (argument) daybreak 


empanel 


cloak (not cloke) 


deflexion 


empanelled 


clue (but clew for 


demeanour 


enclose 


part of a sail) 


dependant (noun) 


1 endorse 


coalesce 


dependence 


enroll 


coco-nut 


dependent (adj.) 


enrolment 


coeval 


develop 


ensconce 


coexist 


devest (law) 


ensure (make safe) 


cognizance 


dexterously 


enthral 


coloration 


diaeresis 1 


entreat 


commonplace 


dialyse 


entrust 


common-sense 


dike 


envelop (verb) 


(adj.) (but com- 


• ding-dong 


envelope (noun) 


mon sense for 


discoloration 


ethereal 


adj. and noun 


discolour 


everyday 


together) 


disk 


every one 


conjurer 


dispatch (not de- 


everything 


conjuror (law) 


spatch) 


everywhere 


connexion 


distil 


exorrhizal 


connivence 


disyllable 


expense 


conscience' sake 


doggerel 


faecal 


contemporary 


dote 


faggot 


couldst 


dullness 


fantasy 


court martial 


duodecimos 


favour 



1 The sign ["] sometimes placed over the second of two 
vowels in an English word to indicate that they are to be pro- 
nounced separately, is so called by a compositor. By the way, 
this sign is now only used for learned or foreign words; not in 
chaos nor in dais, for instance. Naive and naivete still require 
it, however (see pp. 103-4), — EL H. 



94 A Practical Guide for Authors 



fetid 


good nature 


horseshoe 


filigree 


good-natured 


humorist 


first-hand 


goodness' sake 


humorous 


forbade 


good night 


humour 


foregone (gone be- 


■ goodwill 


hyena 


fore) 


gramophone 


icing 


foretell 


granter (one who ill-fated 


for ever 


grants) 


ill health 


forgo * 


grantor (in law, 


; ill luck 


forme (printer's) 


one who makes ill nature 


frenzy- 


a grant) 


indoor 


fuchsia 


grey 


inflexion 


fulfil 


hadst 


inquire, -quiry 2 


fullness 


haemorrhage 


install 


gage (a pledge) 


ha! ha! (laughter) 


instalment 


gauge (a measure) 


ha-ha (a fence) 


instil 


get-at-able 


half-dozen, -way 


insure (in a so- 


gipsy 


handiwork 


ciety) 


godlike 


havoc 


Inverness-shire, 


good-bye 


hob-a-nob 


&c. 


good humour 


holiday 


ipecacuanha 


good-humoured 


honour 


jail 



1 In 1896, Mr. W. E. Gladstone, not being aware of this rule, 
wished to include, in a list of errata for insertion in Vol. II of 
Butler's Works, an alteration of the spelling, in Vol. I, of the 
word i forgo.' On receipt of his direction to make the alteration, 
I sent Mr. Gladstone a copy of Skeafs Dictionary to show that 
'f orgo,' in the sense in which he was using the word, was right, 
and could not be corrected ; but it was only after reference to 
Dr. J. A. H. Murray that Mr. Gladstone wrote to me, 'Person- 
ally I am inclined to prefer forego, on its merits; but authority 
must carry the day. I give in."* — H. H. 

2 'This is now usual. See Dictionary, s. v. Enq.' — J. A. H. M. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 95 



jewellery 


moneys 


portray 


jews' harp and 


mosquitoes 


postilion 


jews' harps 


mottoes 


pot (size of pa- 


jugful 


negligible 


per) 


kinematograph 


negotiate 


potato 


ladylike 


net (profits) 


potatoes 


lantern 


never-ending 


practice (noun) 


licence (noun) 


noonday 


practise (verb) 


license (verb) 


no one 


premises (no sing. y 


life-like 


octavos 


conveyancing) 


lifetime 


offsaddle 


premiss, prem- 


liquefy 


oft-times 


isses (logic) 


loath (adj.) 


one-eighth 


primaeval 


loathe (verb) 


oneself 


printer's error, 


lovable 


onrush 


but printers' 


mamma 


outdoor 


errors ' 


manifestoes 


out-of-date 


programme 


mattress 


out-of-door 


prophecy (noun) 


mayst 


overalls 


prophesy (verb) 


meantime 


overleaf 


provisos 


meanwhile 


oversea 


putrefy 


mediaeval 


ozone 


quartet 


midday 


parallelepiped 


quartos 


mightst 


paralyse 


quintet 


millennium 


partisan 


racket (bat) 


misdemeanour 


pavilion 


rackets (game) 


misspelling 


percentage 


racoon 


mistletoe 


petrify 


radium (small r) 


Mohammedan 


picnicking 


ragi (grain) 


moneyed 


poniard 


raja 



1 Dr. J. A. H. Murray thinks that where there is any ambigu- 
ity a hyphen may also be used, as 'bad print ers'-errors \ 



g6 A Practical Guide for Authors 



rarefy 


rigour 


stationary (stand- 


rase (to erase) 


rime (both mean- 


ing still) 


ratios 


ings) 


stationery (paper) 


raze (to the 


rout (verb) 


steadfast 


ground) 


second-hand 


stillness 


reappear 


secrecy 


story (both senses) 


re-bound (as a 


selfsame 


stupefy 


book) 


sergeant (mili- 


such-like 


recall 


tary) 


sycamore (ord. 


recompense (v. 


Serjeant (law) 


sp.) 


6° n.) 


Shakespeare 2 


sycomore (Bible 


recompose 


shouldst 


sp.) 


re-cover (a 


show (v. &° n.) 


synonymous 


chair) 


shrillness 


tallness 


referable 


sibyl 


tease 


reflection 1 


sibylline 


tenor 


reimburse 


siliceous 


thyme (herb) 


reinstate 


siphon 


tire (of a wheel) 3 


(but re-enter, 


siren 


title-page 


co-operate, 


skilful 


toboggan, -ing 


pre-eminent, 


some one 


toilet 


&c.) 


spadeful 


tomatoes 


reopen 


sphinx 


topsy-turvy 


ribbon 


sponge 


tranquillity 


rigorous 


spoonful 


transferable 


rigors (in med.) 


stanch 


trousers 



1 ' Etymology is in favour of reflexion, but usage seems to be 
overpoweringly in favour of the other spelling.'' — H. B. 

2 'Shakspere is preferable, as — The New Shakspere Soci- 
ety.' — J. A. H. M. (But the Clarendon Press is already com- 
mitted to the more extended spelling. — H. H.) 

3 i But the bicycle-makers have apparently adopted the non- 
etymological tyre.'' — J. A. H. M. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 97 



tumour 


villany 


whisky 


tyro 


visor 


whitish 


unmistakably 


volcanoes 


wilful 


up-to-date f 


wabble 


woful 


vender (as gener- 


wagon 


wooed, woos 


ally used) 


weasand 


wouldst 


vendor (in law) 


wellnigh 


wrongdoing 


vermilion 


whilom 


zigzag 



DOUBLING CONSONANTS WITH SUFFIXES 

Words of one syllable, ending with one 
consonant preceded by one vowel, double 
that consonant on adding -ed or -ing: e.g. 



drop 
stop 



dropped 
stopped 



dropping 
stopping 



Words of more than one syllable, end- 
ing with one consonant preceded by one 
vowel, and accented on the last syllable, 
double that consonant on adding -ed or 
-ing: e.g. 



allot 


allotted 


allotting 


infer 


inferred 


inferring 


trepan 


trepanned 


trepanning 



But words of this class not accented on the 

1 As, up-to-date records; but print 'the records are up to 
date\-H. H. 



98 A Practical Guide for Authors 

last syllable do not double the last consonant 
on adding -ed, -ing: e.g. — 



balloted, -ing 
banqueted, -ing 
bayoneted, -ing 
benefited, -ing 
biased, -ing 
billeted, -ing 
bishoped, -ing 
blanketed, -ing 
bonneted, -ing 
buffeted, -ing 
carpeted, -ing 
chirruped, -ing 
combated, -ing 
cricketing 
crocheting 



crotcheted, -ing, -y 
discomfited, -ing 
docketed, -ing 
ferreted, -ing 
fidgeted, -ing, -y 
filleted, -ing 
focused, -ing 
galloped, -ing 
gibbeted, -ing 
gossiped, -ing, -y 
junketed, -ing 
marketed, -ing 
packeted, -ing 
paralleled, -ing 
pelleted, -ing 



picketed, -ing 
piloted, -ing 
rabbeted, -ing 
rabbiting 
rickety 
riveted, -ing 
russeted, -ing, -y 
scolloped, -ing 
tennising 
trinketed, -ing 
trousered, -ing 
trumpeted, -ing 
velvety 
wainscoted, -ing 



IN POETRY 

words ending in -ed are to be spelt so in 
all cases; and with a grave accent when the 
syllable is separately pronounced, thus — ed 
Cd is not to be used). 

This applies to poetical quotations intro- 
duced into prose matter, and to new works. 

1 'We must, however, still except the words ending in -e], as 
levelled, -er, -ing; travelled, -er, -ing; and also worshipped, -er, 
-tog.' — J. A. H. M. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 99 

It must not apply to reprints of standard 
authors. 

Poetical quotations should be spaced with 
en quadrats. 

FORMATION OF PLURALS IN WORDS OF 
FOREIGN ORIGIN 

Plurals of nouns taken into English from 
other languages sometimes follow the laws 
of inflexion of those languages. But often, 
in non-technical works, additional forms are 
used, constructed after the English manner. 
Print as below, in cases where the author 
does not object. In scientific works the scien- 
tific method must of course prevail : — 



Sing, addendum 


PL addenda 1 


alumnus 


alumni 


amanuensis 


amanuenses 


animalculum 


animalcula 


antithesis 


antitheses 


appendix 


appendices 


arcanum 


arcana 


automaton 


automata 


axis 


axes 


basis 


bases 


beau 


beaux 



1 See note I on next page. 

LOFC. 



ioo A Practical Guide for Authors 



Sing, calix 


PI 


. calices 


chrysalis 




chrysalises 


corrigendum 




corrigenda * 


criterion 




criteria 


datum 




data 


desideratum 




desiderata 


dilettante 




dilettanti 


effluvium 




effluvia 


ellipsis 




ellipses 


erratum 




errata 1 


focus 




focuses (jam.) 


formula 




formulae 


fungus 




fungi 


genius 




geniuses 2 


(meaning a person 


or persons of genius) 


hypothesis 




hypotheses 


ignis fatuus 




ignes fatui 


index 




indexes 3 


iris 




irises 


lamina 




laminae 


larva 




larvae 


libretto 




libretti 


maximum 




maxima 


medium 




mediums (jam.) 


memorandum 




memorandums 4 



(meaning a written note or notes) 

1 See reference to these words for another purpose on p. 1 37. 
— H. H. 

2 Genius, in the sense of a tutelary spirit, must of course have 
the plural genii. — H. H. 

3 In scholarly works, indices is often preferred; and in the 
mathematical sense must always be used. — H. H. 

4 But in a collective or special sense we must print memo- 
randa. — H. H. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 



101 



Sing, metamorphosis 


PI. metamorphoses 


miasma 


miasmata 


minimum 


minima 


nebula 


nebulae 


oasis 


oases 


parenthesis 


parentheses 


phenomenon 


phenomena 


radius 


radii 


radix 


radices 


sanatorium 


sanatoria 


scholium 


scholia 


spectrum 


spectra 


speculum 


specula 


stamen 


stamens 


stimulus 


stimuli 


stratum 


strata 


thesis 


theses 


virtuoso 


virtuosi 


vortex 


vortexes {jam.) 



PHONETIC SPELLINGS 

Some newspapers print phonetic spellings, 
such as program, hight (to describe altitude), 
catalog, &c. But the practice has insufficient 
authority, and can be followed only by spe- 
cial direction. 

DIGRAPHS 

ae and <b should each be printed as two 
letters in Latin and Greek words, e. g. 



102 A Practical Guide for Authors 

Aeneid, Aeschylus, Caesar, Oedipus; and 
in English, as mediaeval, phoenix. But in 
Old-English and in French words do not 
separate the letters, as Alfred, Caedmon, 
manoeuvre. 

FOREIGN WORDS AND PHRASES WHEN TO 

BE SET IN ROMAN AND WHEN TO BE 

SET IN ITALIC 

Print the following anglicized words in 
roman type. In all of the French examples 
but two the spelling is according to Littr£. 



aide de camp 


bulletin 


debris 


a propos 


cafe" 


debut 


aurora borealis 


cantos 


depot » 


beau ideal 


carte de visite 


detour 


bezique 


charge d'affaires 


diarrhoea 


bona nde 


chiaroscuro 


dramatis 


bouquet 


cliche 


personae 


bravos 


connoisseur 


eclat 


bric-a-brac 


cul-de-sac 


employe" 2 



1 For this and nearly all similar words, the proper accents 
are to be used, whether the foreign words be anglicized or not. 
— H. H. 

2 Webster' 1 s Dictionary describes employee as an English 
word, but we follow the N. E. D. and prefer employe (masc.) 
and employee (Jem.). — H. H. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 103 



ennui 

entree 

etiquette l 

facsimile 

fete 

gratis 

habeas corpus 

hors-d'oeuvre 

innuendo 

innuendoes 

levee 

litterateur 

litterati 



manoeuvre 
memorandum 
menu 
naive 
omnibus 
papier niache 
per annum 
post mortem 
poste restante 
precis 
prestige 
prima facie 
protege 



regime 

rendezvous l 

role 

savants 

seraglio 

sobriquet 

soiree 

versus 

via 

vice versa 

viva voce 



The following to be printed in italics: — 



ab origine 
ad nauseam 
a fortiori 
amour propre 
ancien regime 
anglice 
a priori 
au courant 
au revoir 
bonhomie 
chef-d } &uvre 
chevaux de frise 
con amore 



confrere 
cortege 2 
coup d'etat 
coup de grace 
de quoi vivre 
edition de luxe 
elite 
en bloc 
en masse 
en passant 
en route 
ex cathedra 
ex officio 



facile princeps 
felo de se 
garcon 
grand monde 
habitue 

hors de combat 
in propria per- 
sona 
laisser-faire 
lapsus linguae 
melee 

mise en scene 
modus operandi 



1 Omit the accent from etiquette; and the hyphen from 
rendez-vous. — H. H. 

2 For a statement as to this and other French words now 
printed with a grave accent, see p. 150. — H. H. 



io4 A Practical Guide for Authors 



rnulturn in parvo 

naivete 

nemine contra- 

dicente 
ne plus ultra 
nolens volens 
par excellence 
pari passu 



piece de resist- sans-culotte 
ance sine qua non 



plebiscite 
pro forma 
pro tempore 
raison d'etre 
resume 
sang-froid 
sans ceremonie 



sotto voce 

sub rosa 

tete a tete (adv.) 

tete-a-tete (noun) 

vis-a-vis 



The modern practice is to omit accents 
from Latin words. 



HYPHENS x 

The hyphen need not, as a rule, be used 
to join an adverb to the adjective which it 
qualifies : as in — 

a beautifully furnished house, 
a well calculated scheme. 

1 See New English Dictionary, Vol. I, page xiii, art. 'Com- 
binations,' where Dr. Murray writes: ' In many combinations the 
hyphen becomes an expression of unification of sense. When 
this unification and specialization has proceeded so far that 
we no longer analyse the combination into its elements, but 
take it in as a whole, as in blackberry, postman, newspaper, 
pronouncing it in speech with a single accent, the hyphen is 
usually omitted, and the fully developed compound is written as 
a single word. But as this also is a question of degree, there are 
necessarily many compounds as to which usage has not yet 
determined whether they are to be written with the hyphen 
or as single words.' 

And again, in the Schoolmasters* Tear-book for 1903, Dr. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 105 

When the word might not at once be re- 
cognized as an adverb, use the hyphen: 
as — 

a well-known statesman, 
an ill-built house, 
a new-found country, 
the best -known proverb, 
a good-sized room. 

When an adverb qualifies a predicate, the 
hyphen should not be used : as — 

this fact is well known. 

Where either (1) a noun and adjective or 
participle, or (2) an adjective and a noun, 
in combination, are used as a compound 
adjective, the hyphen should be used : — 

a poverty-stricken family, 

a blood-red hand, 

a nineteenth-century invention. 

Murray writes: 'There is no rule, propriety, or consensus of 
usage in English for the use or absence of the hyphen, except in 
cases where grammar or sense is concerned; as in a day well 
remembered, but a well-remembered day, the sea of a deep 
green, a deep-green sea, a baby little expected, a little-expected 
baby, not a deep green sea, a little expected baby. . . . Avoid 
Headmaster, because this implies one stress, Headmaster, and 
would analogically mean "master of heads," like schoolmaster, 
ironmaster. ... Of course the hyphen comes in at once in 
combinations and derivatives, as head-mastership.'' 



106 A Practical Guide for Authors 

A compound noun which has but one ac- 
cent, and from familiar use has become one 
word, requires no hyphen. Examples : — 



blackbird 


mantelpiece 


teapot 


byname 


notebook 


textbook 


byword 


nowadays 


torchlight 


hairdresser 


schoolboy 


upstairs 


handbook 


schoolgirl 


watchcase 


handkerchief 


seaport 


wheelbarrow 



Compound words of more than one accent, 
as — apple-tr£e, cherry-pie, gravel- walk, will- 
o'-the-wisp, as well as others which follow, 
require hyphens : — 



arm-chair 


half-crown 


race-course 


bird-cage 


harvest-field 


sea-serpent 


by-law 


head-dress 


small-pox 


by-way 


hour-glass 


son-in-law 


cousin-german 


india-rubber 


starting-point 


dumb-bell 


knick-knack 


step-father 


ear-rings 


looking-glass 


title-deeds 


farm-house 


man-of-war 


to-day 


guide-book 


one-and-twenty 


top-mast 


gutta-percha 


quarter-day 


year-book 



Half an inch, half a dozen, &c, require no 
hyphens. Print fellow men, head quarters, 
head master (see note on page 104), post 
office, revenue office, union jack, &c. 



English Spellings Punctuation, etc. 107 

TO PRINT CONTRACTIONS 

Note. — Some abbreviations of Latin words such as 
ad loc, &c, to be set in roman, are shown for the sake 
of contrast, on page 118. 

Names of the books of the Bible as abbre- 
viated where necessary : — 





Old Testament 






Gen. 


1 Sam. Esther 


Jer. 


Jonah 


Exod. 


2 Sam. Job 


Lam. 


Mic. 


Lev. 


1 Kings Ps. 


Ezek. 


Nahum 


Num. 


2 Kings Prov. 


Dan. 


Hab. 


Deut. 


1 Chron. Eccles. 


Hos. 


Zeph. 


Joshua 


2 Chron. Song of 


Joel 


Hag. 


Judges 


Ezra Sol. 


Amos 


Zech. 


Ruth 


Neh. Isa. 

New Testament 


Obad. 


Mai. 


Matt. 


Rom. Phil. 1 Tim. 


Heb. 


1 John 


Mark 


1 Cor. Col. 2 Tim. 


Jas. 


2 John 


Luke 


2 Cor. 1 Thess. Titus 


1 Pet. 


3 John 


John 


Gal. 2 Thess. Philem 


. 2 Pet. 


Jude 


Acts 


Eph. 

Apocrypha 




Rev. 


1 Esdras Wisd. of Sol. 


Susanna 




2 Esdras Ecclus. 


Bel and Dragon 


Tobit Baruch 


Pr. of Manasses 


Judith Song of Three 


1 Mace. 




Rest of Esth. Childr. 


2 Mace. 





108 A Practical Guide for Authors 
To abbreviate the names of the months: 



Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr. 


May 


June 


July 


Aug. 


Sept. 


Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 



Where the name of a county is abbrevi- 
ated, as Yorks., Cambs., Berks., Oxon., use 
a full point; but print Hants (no full point) 
because it is not a modern abbreviation. 

4to, 8vo, i2mo, 1 &c. (sizes of books), 
are symbols, and should have no full point. 
A parallel case is that of ist, 2nd, 3rd, and 
so on, which also need no full points. 

Print lb. for both sing, and pi.; not lbs. 

In y e and y* the second letter should be 
a superior, and without a full point. 

When beginning a footnote, the abbre- 
viations e.g., i.e., p. or pp., and so on, to 
be all in lower-case. 

References to the Bible in ordinary works 

1 To justify the use in ordinary printing of these symbols 
(as against the use of 4 , 8°, 12 , a prevailing French fashion 
which is preferred by some writers), it may suffice to say that the 
ablative cases of the ordinal numbers quartus, octavus, duodeci- 
mus, namely quarto, octavo, duodecimo, are according to popular 
usage represented by the forms or symbols 4to, 8vo, i2mo; just 
as by the same usage we print ist and 2nd as forms or symbols 
of the English words first and second. — H. H. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 109 

to be printed thus — Exod. xxxii. 32 ; 
xxx vii. 2. 

References to Shakespeare's plays thus — 
1 Henry VI, iii. 2. 14, and so on. 1 

Use ETC. in a cap. line and etc. in 
a small cap. line where an ampersand 
(&) will not range. Otherwise print &c. ; 
and Longmans, Green & Co.; with no 
comma before ampersand in the name of a 
firm. 

The points of the compass, N. E. S. W., 
when separately used, to have a full point: 
but print NE., NNW. These letters to be 
used only in geographical or similar mat- 
ter: do not, even if N. is in the copy, use 
the contraction in ordinary composition; 
print 'Woodstock is eight miles north of 
Carfax'. 

MS. = manuscript (noun), to be used in 
the printing of bibliographical details, but 
not when used adjectivally ; and it may 
be spelt out even when used as a noun, if 

1 c A very bad system: in. ii. 14, is clearer.' — J. A. H. M. 
(But the University Press is already committed to the above 
form. — H. H.) 



no A Practical Guide for Authors 

clearer to the sense. Print the plural form 
MSS. 

Print PS. (not P.S.) for postscript or 
postscriptum; SS. not S.S. (steamship); but 
H.M.S. (His Majesty's Ship); H.R.H.; 
I.W. (Isle of Wight); N.B., Q.E.D., and 
R.S.V.P., because more than one word is 
contracted. 

Print the symbolic letters I O U, without 
full points. 

In printing S. or St. for Saint, the com- 
positor must be guided by the wish of the 
author, assumed or expressed. 

Print X-rays; and ME. and OE. in philo- 
logical works for Middle English and Old 
English. 

Apostrophes in similar abbreviations to 
the following should join close up to the 
letters — don't, 'em, haven't, o'er, shan't, 
shouldn't, 'tis, won't, there'll, I'll, we'll. 

An apostrophe should not be used with 
hers, ours, theirs, yours. 

Apostrophes in Place- Names. 1 — i. Use an 

1 The selection is arbitrary; but the examples are given on 
the authority of the Cambridge University and Oxford Uni- 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 1 1 1 

apostrophe after the ' s ' in — Queens' College 
(Cambs.), St. Johns' (I. of M.). But 

2. Use an apostrophe before the V in 
Connah's Quay (Flints.), Hunter's Quay 
(N. B.), Orme's Head (Cam.), Queen's Coll. 
(Oxon.), St. Abb's Head (N. B.), St. John's 
(Newfoundland), St. John's Wood (London), 
St. Mary's Loch (N. B.), St. Michael's Mount 
(Cornwall), St. Mungo's Well (Knaresboro), 
St. Peter's (Sydney, N. S. W.). 

3. Do not use an apostrophe in — All 
Souls (Oxon.), Bury St. Edmunds, Husbands 
Bosworth (Rugby), Johns Hopkins Univer- 
sity (U. S. A.), Millers Dale (Derby), Owens 
College (Manchester), St. Albans, St. An- 
drews, St. Bees, St. Boswells, St. Davids, 
St. Helens (Lanes., and district in London), 
St. Heliers (Jersey), St. Ives (Hunts, and 
Cornwall), St. Kitts (St. Christopher Island, 
W. I.), St. Leonards, St. Neots (Hunts., but 
St. Neot, Cornwall), Somers Town (London). 

versity Calendars, the Post Office Guide, Bartholomew's 
Gazetteer, Bradshaw's Railway Guide, Crockford's Clerical 
Directory, Keith Johnston's Gazetteer, and Stubbs's Hotel 
Guide. 



ii2 A Practical Guide jor Authors 

CAPITAL LETTERS 

Avoid beginning words with capitals as 
much as possible; but use them in the fol- 
lowing and similar cases : — 

Act, when referring to Act of Parliament 
or Acts of a play; also in Baptist, Christian, 
Nonconformist, Presbyterian, Puritan, and 
all denominational terms. 

His Majesty, Her Royal Highness, &c. 

The King of England, the Prince of Wales. 

Sir Roger Tichborne, J. Spencer, Esq., 
Mr. J. Spencer- Smith, &c. 

Christmas Day, Lady Day, &c. 

House of Commons, Parliament, &c. 

The names of streets, roads, &c, are to 
be separate words, with initial capitals, as — 
Chandos Street, Trafalgar Square, Kingston 
Road, Addison's Walk, Norreys Avenue. 

Pronouns referring to the Deity should 
begin with capitals — He, Him, His, Me, 
Mine, My, Thee, Thine, Thou; but print — 
who, whom, and whose. 

O Lord, O God, O sir; but Oh, that, &c. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 113 

SMALL CAPITALS 

Put a hair space between the letters of 
contractions in small capitals : — 

A.u.c. Anno urbis conditae 
a.d. Anno Domini a.m. Annomundi 

a.h. Anno Hegirae B.C. Before Christ. 

a.m. 1 (ante meridiem), p.m. 1 (post meridiem) 
should be lower-case, except in lines of caps, 
or small caps. 

When small caps, are used at foot of title- 
page, print thus : M dcccc IV 2 

The first word in each chapter of a book is 
to be in small caps, and the first line usually 
indented one em; but this does not apply 
to works in which the matter is broken up 
into many sections, nor to cases where large 

1 It is a common error to suppose that these initials stand 
for ante-meridian and post-meridian. Thus, Charles Dickens 
represents one of his characters in Pickwick as saying: ' Curious 
circumstance about those initials, sir ', said Mr. Magnus. 'You 
will observe — P. M. — post meridian. In hasty notes to inti- 
mate acquaintance, I sometimes sign myself "Afternoon ". It 
amuses my friends very much, Mr. Pickwick.'' — Dickens, 
Pickwick Papers, p. 367, Oxford edit., 1903. — H. H. 

2 'Or better m cm iv' — J. A. H. M. 



ii4 -4 Practical Guide for Authors 

initials are used. (See bottom of p. 116, as 
to indentation.) 

References in text to caps, in plates and 
woodcuts to be in small caps. 

LOWER-CASE INITIALS 

FOR ANGLICIZED WORDS 

christianize, frenchified, herculean, laconic, 
latinity, latinize, tantalize. 

Also the more common words derived 
from proper names, as — 

boycott, d'oyley, guernsey, hansom-cab, 
holland, inverness, italic, japanning, may 
(blossom), morocco, roman, russia, vulcanize. 

SPECIAL SIGNS OR SYMBOLS 

The signs + (plus), — (minus), = (equal 
to), > ('larger than', in etymology signifying 
'gives' or 'has given'), < ('smaller than', 
in etymology signifying 'derived from'), 
are now often used in printing ordinary 
scientific works, and not in those only which 
are mathematical or arithmetical. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 115 

In such instances + , — r = , >, < , should 
in the matter of spacing be treated as words 
are treated, i.e. in a line which needs wide 
spacing there should be more space, and in 
a line which requires thin spacing there 
should be less space, before or after them. 
For instance, in — 

spectabilis, Bcerl. I. c. (= Haasia spectabilis) 

the = belongs to 'spectabilis' as much as 
to 'Haasia', and the sign should not be 
put close to 'Haasia'. 

SPACING 

Spacing ought to be even. Paragraphs are 
not to be widely spaced for the sake of 
making break-lines. When the last line but 
one of a paragraph is widely spaced and 
the first line of the next paragraph is more 
than thick-spaced, extra spaces should be 
used between the words in the intermediate 
breakline. Such spaces should not exceed 
en quads, nor be increased if by so doing 
the line would be driven full out. 



n6 A Practical Guide for Authors 

Break-lines should consist of more than 
five letters, except in narrow measures. But 
take care that bad spacing is not thereby 
necessitated. 

Avoid (especially in full measures) print- 
ing at the ends of lines — 

a, I., 11., p. or pp., I (when a pronoun). 

Capt., Dr., Esq., Mr., Rev., St., and so on, 
should not be separated from names; nor 
should initials be divided : e. g. Mr. W. E. | 
Gladstone; not Mr. W. | E. Gladstone. 

Thin spaces before apostrophes, e. g. that 's 
(for 'that is'), boy's (for 'boy is'), to dis- 
tinguish abbreviations from the possessive 
case. 

Hair spaces to be placed between contrac- 
tions, as in e.g., i.e., q.v. 

Indentation of first lines of paragraphs 
should be one em for full measures in 8vo 
and smaller books. In 4to and larger books 
the identation should be increased. 

Sub-indentation should be proportionate; 
and the rule for all indentation is not to 
drive too far in. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 117 

ITALIC TYPE 

Note. — A list of foreign and anglicized words and 
phrases, showing which should be printed in roman and 
which in italic, is given on pp. 102-4. 

In many works it is now common to print 
titles of books in italic, instead of in inverted 
commas. This must be determined by the 
directions given with the copy, but the prac- 
tice must be uniform throughout the work. 

Short extracts from books, whether foreign 
or English, should not be in italic but in 
roman (between inverted commas, or other- 
wise, as directed on p. 130). 

Names of periodicals and ships * should 
be in italic; and authorities at the ends of 
quotations or notes thus: Homer, Odyssey, 
ii. 15, but print Hor. Carm. ii. 14. 2; Hom. 
Od. iv. 272. This applies chiefly to quota- 

1 Italicizing the names of ships is thus recognized by Victor 
Hugo: 'H Tavait nomme Durande. La Durande, — nous ne 
Tappelerons plus autrement. On nous permettra egalement, 
quel que soit Tusage typographique, de ne point souligner ce 
nom Durande, nous conformant en cela a la pensee de Mess 
Lethierry pour qui la Durande etait presque une personnel — 
V. Hugo, Travailleurs de la mer, 3rd (1866) edit., Vol. I, p. 129. 
— H. H. 



n8 A Practical Guide for Authors 

tions at the heads of chapters. It does not 
refer to frequent citations in footnotes, where 
the author's name is usually in lower-case 
letters, 

ad loc, cf., e.g., et seq., ib., ibid., id., i.e., 
loc. cit, q.v., u.s., viz., 1 not to be in italic. 
Print ante } infra, passim, post, supra, &c. 

Italic s. and d. to be generally used to 
express shillings and pence; and the sign £ 
(except in special cases) to express the pound 
sterling. But in catalogues and similar work, 
the diagonal sign / or ' shilling- mark' is 
sometimes preferred to divide figures repre- 
senting shillings and pence. The same sign 
is occasionally used in dates, as 4/2/04. 

DIVISION OF WORDS 

I. ENGLISH 

Such divisions as en-, de-, or in- to be 
allowed only in very narrow measures, and 
there exceptionally. 

Disyllables, as 'into', 'until', &c, are 
to be divided only in very narrow measures. 

1 This expression, although a symbol rather than an abbre- 
viation, must be printed with a full point after the z. — H. H. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 119 
The following divisions to be preferred: — 



abun-dance estab-lish-ment 


pun-ish 


corre-spon-dence impor-tance 


respon-dent 


depen-dent inter-est 




dimin-ish minis-ter 




Avoid similar divisions to — 




star-vation, obser-vation, 


exal-tation, 


gene-ration, imagi-nation, 


origi-nally; 



but put starva-tion, &c. 

The principle is that the part of the word 
left at the end of a line should suggest the 
part commencing the next line. Thus the 
word ' happiness' should be divided happi- 
ness, not hap-piness. 1 

Roman-ism, Puritan-ism; but Agnosti- 
cism, Catholi-cism, criti-cism, fanati-cism, 
tautolo-gism, witti-cism, &c. 

1 I was once asked how I would carry out the rule that part 
of the word left in one line should suggest what followed in the 
next, in such a case as 'disproportionableness', which, according 
to Dr. J. A. H. Murray, is one of the longest words in the English 
language; or 'incircumscriptibleness \ used by one Byfield, a 
divine, in 1615, who wrote, 'The immensity of Christ's divine 
nature hath . . . incircumscriptibleness in respect of place"' ; 
or again, 'antidisestablishmentarians', quoted in the recent 
biography of Archbishop Benson, where he says that 'the Free 
Kirk of the North of Scotland are strong antidisestablishmen- 
tarians\ — H. H. 



120 A Practical Guide for Authors 

Atmosphere, micro-scope, philo-sophy, 
tele-phone, tele-scope, should have only this 
division. But always print episco-pal (not 
epi-scopal), &C. 1 

II. SOME ITALIAN, PORTUGUESE, AND SPANISH WORDS 

Italian. — Divide si-gnore (gn = ni in 
6 mania'), trava-gliare (gli =lli in 'William'), 
tra-scinare (sd=shi in 'shin'), i.e. take over 
gn, gl, sci. In such a case as 'all' uomo' 
divide, if necessary, ' al-1'uomo \ 

Portuguese. — Divide se-nhor (nh =ni in 
'mania'), bata-lha Qh=lli in 'William'), 
i. e. take over nh, lh. 

Spanish. — Divide se-nora (h=ni in 
'mania'), maravi-lloso Ql=lli in 'William'), 
i. e. take over n, 11. 

PUNCTUATION 
The compositor is recommended to study 
attentively a good treatise 2 on the whole 

1 'Even the divisions noted as preferable are not free from 
objection, and should be avoided when it is at all easy to do so.* 
— H. B. 

2 For example, Spelling and Punctuation, by H. Beadnell 
(Wyman); Stops; or, How to Punctuate, by P. Allardyce 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 121 

subject. He will find some knowledge of 
it to be indispensable if his work is to be 
done properly; for most writers send in 
copy quite unprepared as regards punc- 
tuation, and leave the compositor to put in 
the proper marks. 'Punctuation is an art 
nearly always left to the compositor, authors 
being almost w r ithout exception either too 
busy or too careless to regard it.' * Some 
authors rightly claim to have carefully pre- 
pared copy followed absolutely; but such 
cases are rare, and the compositor can as a 
rule only follow his copy exactly when setting 
up standard reprints. 'The first business 
of the compositor,' says Mr. De Vinne, 'is 
to copy and not to write. He is enjoined 
strictly to follow the copy and never to change 
the punctuation of any author who is precise 
and systematic; but he is also required to 
punctuate the writings of all authors who 
are not careful, and to make written expres- 

(Fisher Unwin) ; Correct Composition, by T. L. De Vinne 
(New York, Century Co.) ; or the more elaborate Guide pra- 
tique du compositeur, &c, by T. Lefevre (Paris, Firmin-Didot). 
1 Practical Printing, by Southward and Powell, p. 191. 



122 A Practical Guide for Authors 

sion intelligible in the proof. ... It follows 
that compositors are inclined to neglect the 
study of rules that cannot be generally 
applied.' * 

It being admitted, then, that the com- 
positor is to be held responsible in most 
cases, he should remember that loose punc- 
tuation, 2 especially in scientific and philo- 
sophical works, is to be avoided. We will 
again quote Mr. De Vinne: 'Two systems 
of punctuation are in use. One may be 
called the close or stiff, and the other the 
open or easy system. For all ordinary de- 
scriptive writing the open or easy system, 
which teaches that points be used sparingly, 
is in most favor, but the close or stiff sys- 

1 De Vinne, Correct Composition, pp. 241-2. 

2 How much depends upon punctuation is well illustrated in 
a story told, I believe, by the late G. A. Sala, once a writer in 
the Daily Telegraph, about R. B. Sheridan, dramatist and 
M.P. In the House of Commons, Sheridan one day gave an 
opponent the lie direct. Called upon to apologize, the offender 
responded thus: ' Mr. Speaker I said the honourable Member 
was a liar it is true and I am sorry for it/* Naturally the person 
concerned was not satisfied; and said so. 'Sir,* continued Mr. 
Sheridan, 'the honourable Member can interpret the terms of 
my statement according to his ability, and he can put punctua- 
tion marks where it pleases him.* — H. H. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 123 

tern cannot be discarded.' l The compositor 
who desires to inform himself as to the prin- 
ciples and theory of punctuation, will find 
abundant information in the works men- 
tioned in the footnote on p. 120; in our own 
booklet there is only space for a few cautions 
and a liberal selection of examples ; authority 
for the examples, when they are taken from 
the works of other writers, being given in all 
cases. 

THE COMMA 

Commas should, as a rule, be inserted 
between adjectives preceding and qualifying 
substantives, as — 

An enterprising, ambitious man. 

A gentle, amiable, harmless creature. 

A cold, damp, badly lighted room. 

Peter was a wise, holy, and energetic man. 2 

But where the last adjective is in closer 
relation to the substantive than the preced- 
ing ones, omit the comma, as — 

A distinguished foreign author. 
The sailor was accompanied by a great rough New- 
foundland dog. 2 

1 De Vinne, Correct Composition, p. 244. 

2 Beadnell, pp. 99-101. 



124 A Practical Guide for Authors 

The following sentence needs no commas : — 

God is wise and righteous and faithful. 1 

Such words as moreover, however, &c, 
are usually followed by a comma 2 when used 
at the opening of a sentence, or preceded 
and followed by a comma when used in the 
middle of a sentence. For instance : — 

In any case, however, the siphon may be filled. 1 

It is better to use the comma in such sen- 
tences as those which immediately follow: — 

Truth ennobles man, and learning adorns him. 1 

The Parliament is not dissolved, but only prorogued. 

The French having occupied Portugal, a British 
squadron, under Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, sailed 
for Madeira. 

I believed, and therefore I spoke. 

The question is, Can it be performed? 

My son, give me thy heart. 

The Armada being thus happily defeated, the nation 
resounded with shouts of joy. 

1 All the examples in this page are from Beadnell, pp. 94- 
110. 

2 Nevertheless, the reader is not to be commended who, being 
told that the word however was usually followed by a comma, 
insisted upon altering a sentence beginning ' However true this 
may be,' &c, to * However, true this may be,' &c. This is the 
late Dean Alford's story. See The Queetfs English, p. 124, ed. 
1870. — H. H. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 125 

Be assured, then, that order, frugality, and economy, 
are the necessary supporters of every personal and pri- 
vate virtue. 

Virtue is the highest proof of a superior understand- 
ing, and the only basis of greatness. 

THE SEMICOLON 

Instances in which the semicolon is ap- 
propriate : — 

Truth ennobles man; learning adorns him. 

The temperate man's pleasures are always durable, 
because they are regular; and all his life is calm and 
serene, because it is innocent. 

Those faults which arise from the will are intolerable; 
for dull and insipid is every performance where inclina- 
tion bears no part. 

Economy is no disgrace ; for it is better to live on 
a little than to outlive a great deal. 

To err is human; to forgive, divine. 1 

Never speak concerning what you are ignorant of; 
speak little of what you know; and whether you speak 
or say not a word, do it with judgement. 1 

Semicolons divide the simple members of 
a compound sentence, and a comma and 
dash come after the last sentence and before 
the general conclusion : — 

To give an early preference to honour above gain, 
when they stand in competition; to despise ever} 7 advan- 

1 All the examples in this page are from Beadnell, pp. 1 10-14. 



126 A Practical Guide jor Authors 

tage which cannot be attained without dishonest arts; 
to brook no meanness, and stoop to no dissimulation, 
— are the indications of a great mind, the presages of 
future eminence and usefulness in life. 



THE COLON 

This point marks an abrupt pause before 
a further but connected statement : — 

In business there is something more than barter, 
exchange, price, payment: there is a sacred faith of 
man in man. 

Study to acquire a habit of thinking: no study is more 
important. 

Always remember the ancient maxim: Know thyself. 

THE PERIOD OR FULL STOP 

Examples of its ordinary use: — 

Fear God. Honour the King. Pray without ceasing. 1 

There are thoughts and images flashing across the 

mind in its highest moods, to which we give the name 

of inspiration. But whom do we honour with this title 

of the inspired poet ? 1 

THE NOTE OF INTERROGATION 

Examples of its use in sentences not 
printed in quotation marks : — 

What does the pedant mean? 
1 All the examples in this page are from Beadnell. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 127 

Shall little, haughty ignorance pronounce 
His work unwise, of which the smallest part 
Exceeds the narrow vision of the mind ? 

Was the prisoner alone when he was apprehended? 
Is he known to the police ? Has he any regular occupa- 
tion ? Where does he dwell ? What is his name ? 

Cases where the note of interrogation need 
not be used : — 

The Cyprians asked me why I wept. 
I was asked if I would stop for dinner. 

THE NOTE OF EXCLAMATION 

Examples of its ordinary use : — 

Hail, source of Being! universal Soul! 

How mischievous are the effects of war! 

O excellent guardian of the sheep! — a wolf! 

Alas for his poor family! 

Alas, my noble boy! that thou shouldst die! 

Ah me! she cried, and waved her lily hand. 

despiteful love! unconstant womankind! 

MARES OF PARENTHESIS 

Examples : — 

1 have seen charity (if charity it may be called) insult 
with an air of pity. 1 

Left now to himself (malice could not wish him a 
worse adviser), he resolves on a desperate project. 1 

1 Beadnell. 



128 A Practical Guide for Authors 

Death onward comes, 
With hasty steps, though unperceived and silent. 
Perhaps (alarming thought!), perhaps he aims 
Ev'n now the fatal blow that ends my life. 1 



THE DASH 

Em rules or dashes — in this and the next 
line an example is given — are often used to 
show that words enclosed between them are 
to be read parenthetically. Thus a verbal 
parenthesis may be shown by punctuation 
in three ways: by em dashes, by ( ), or by 
commas. 2 

At the end of break-lines in conversa- 
tion and similar matter, insert a dash to 
mark continuation, as well as the natural 
point. 

An em rule should also be inserted at the 
end of a note before an authority, and at 
the end of a side-heading. 

1 Beadnell, pp. 119-20. 

2 Some writers mark this form of composition quite arbitrarily. 
For instance, Charles Dickens uses colons: 'As he sat down by 
the old man's side, two tears: not tears like those with which 
recording angels blot their entries out, but drops so precious that 
they use them for their ink: stole down his meritorious cheeks.' 
— Martin Chuzzlewit, Oxford ed., p. 581. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 129 

The dash is used to mark an interruption 
or breaking off in the middle of a sentence. 1 

MARKS OF OMISSION 

To mark omitted words three points . . . 
(not asterisks) separated by en quadrats 
are sufficient; and the practice should be 
uniform throughout the work. Where full 
lines are required to mark a large omission, 
real or imaginary, the spacing between the 
marks should be increased; but the com- 
positor should in this case also use full points 
and not asterisks. 

PUNCTUATION MARKS GENERALLY 

The following summary is an attempt to 
define in few words the meaning and use of 
punctuation marks (the capitals are only 
mine by adoption) : — 

A Period marks the end of a sentence. 

1 There is one case, and only one, of an em rule being used 
in the Bible (A.V.), viz. in Exod. xxxii. 32; where, I am told 
by the Rev. Professor Driver, it is correctly printed, to mark 
what is technically called an 'aposiopesis', i. e. a sudden silence. 
The ordinary mark for such a case is a 2-em rule. — H. H. 



130 A Practical Guide for Authors 

A Colon is at the transition point of the 
sentence. 

A Semicolon separates different state- 
ments. 

A Comma separates clauses, phrases, and 
particles. 

A Dash marks abruptness or irregularity. 

An Exclamation marks surprise. 

An Interrogation asks a question for 
answer. 

An Apostrophe marks elisions or pos- 
sessive case. 

Quotation marks define quoted words. 

Parentheses enclose interpolations in the 
sentence. 

Brackets enclose irregularities in the 
sentence. 1 

QUOTATION MARKS, OR ' INVERTED COMMAS ' (SO- 
CALLED) 

Single ' quotes' are to be used for the 
first quotation; then double for a quotation 
within a quotation. 

Whenever a poetic quotation, whether in 

1 De Vinne, Correct Composition, p. 288. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 131 

the same type as the text or not, is given 
a line (or more) to itself, it is not to be 
placed within quotation marks; but when 
the line of poetry runs on with the prose — 
or when all is prose and all runs on — then 
quotation marks are to be used. 

All signs of punctuation used with words 
in quotation marks must be placed according 
to the sense. If an extract ends with a point, 
then let that point be, as a rule, 1 included 
before the closing quotation mark; but not 
otherwise. This is an important direction 
for the compositor to bear in mind; and 
he should examine the examples which are 
given in the pages which follow : — 

'The passing crowd' is a phrase coined in the spirit 
of indifference. Yet, to a man of what Plato calls ' uni- 
versal sympathies', and even to the plain, ordinary 
denizens of this world, what can be more interesting 
than 'the passing crowd' ? 2 

1 I say 'as a rule', because if such a sentence as that which 
follows occurred in printing a secular work, the rule would have 
to be broken. De Vinne prints: — 

1 In the New Testament we have the following words: "Jesus 
answered them, 'Is it not written in your law, "I said, 'Ye are 
gods'" V m% [H. H.] 

2 Beadnell, p. 116. 



132 A Practical Guide for Authors 

If the physician sees you eat anything that is not 
good for your body, to keep you from it he cries, ' It is 
poison! ' If the divine sees you do anything that is hurt- 
ful for your soul, he cries, ' You are lost ! ' l 
1 Why does he use the word " poison' ' ? ' 
But I boldly cried out, 'Woe unto this city! ' 2 
Alas, how few of them can say, ' I have striven to the 
very utmost ' ! 2 

How fearful was the cry: ' Help, or we perish' ! 2 

Thus, notes of exclamation and interroga- 
tion are sometimes included in and some- 
times follow quotation marks, as in sentences 
above, according to whether their applica- 
tion is merely to the words quoted or to 
the whole sentence of which they form a 
part. 

In regard to the use of commas and full 
points with ' turned commas', the general 
practice has hitherto been different. When 
either a comma or a full point is required 
at the end of a quotation, the almost uni- 
versal custom at the present time is for the 
printer to include that comma or full point 
within the quotation marks at the end of an 
extract, whether it forms part of the origi- 

1 Beadnell, p. 126. 2 Allardyce, p. 74. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 133 

nal extract or not. Even in De Vinne's 
, examples, although he says distinctly, 'The 
proper place of the closing marks of quo- 
tation should be determined by the quoted 
words only,' no instance can be found of the 
closing marks of quotation being placed to 
precede a comma or a full point. Some 
writers wish to exclude the comma or full 
point when it does not form part of the 
original extract, and to include it when it 
does form part of it; and this is doubtless 
correct. 

There seems to be no reason for perpetu- 
ating a bad practice. So, unless the author 
wishes to have it otherwise, in all new works 
the compositor should place full points and 
commas according to the examples which 
follow : — 

We need not ' follow a multitude to do evil'. 

No one should ' follow a multitude to do evil', as the 
Scripture says. 

Do not ' follow a multitude to do evil'; on the con- 
trary, do what is right. 

And proceed in the same manner with 
other marks of punctuation. 



134 A Practical Guide for Authors 

POINTS IN TITLE-PAGES 

All points are to be omitted from the 
ends of lines in titles, half-titles, page-head- 
ings, and cross-headings, in Clarendon Press 
works, unless a special direction is given 
to the contrary. 

PUNCTUATION MARKS AND REFERENCES TO FOOTNOTES 
IN JUXTAPOSITION 

The relation of these to each other is 
dealt with on p. 136. Examples of the right 
practice are to be found on many pages 
of the present work. 

FIGURES AND NUMERALS 

IN ARABIC OR ROMAN 

Nineteenth century, not 19th century. 

The following rule should apply only to 
specific numbers : — 

Figures to be used for money, weight, or 
measure. In other cases, numbers under 100 
to be in words; but print '90 to 100 ', not 
'ninety to 100 \ 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 135 
Spell out in such instances as — 

'With God a thousand years are but as one day'; 
' I have said so a hundred times'. 

Insert commas with four or more than four 
figures, as 7,642; but not in dates, as 1893; 
nor in pagination, even though there may be 
more than three figures. 

Roman numerals to be preferred in such 
cases as Henry VIII, &c. — which should 
never be divided; and should be followed 
by a full point only when the letters end 
a sentence. If, however, the author prefers 
the full title, use i Henry the Eighth', not 
' Henry the VIIIth\ 

Use a decimal point ( •) to express decimals, 
as 7-06. But when the time of day is in- 
tended to be shown, the full point (.) is to be 
used, as 4.30 a. m. 

Do not print May 19th, 1862, nor 19 May 
1862, but May 19, 1862. * In descriptive 

1 Dr. J. A. H. Murray says, ' This is not logical: 19 May 1862 
is. Begin at day, ascend to month, ascend to year; not begin 
at month, descend to day, then ascend to year.' (But I fear we 
must continue for the present to print May 19, 1862: authors 
generally will not accept the logical form. — H. H.) 



136 A Practical Guide for Authors 

writing the author's phraseology should be 
followed; e.g. 'On the first of May the 
army drew near'; not 'On May 1 the army 
drew near \ 

To represent pagination or an approxi- 
mate date, use the least number of figures 
possible; for example, print: — 

pp. 322-30; pp. 322-4, not pp. 3 22 ~ 2 4; 

1897-8, not 1897-98 (use en rules). 

In b. c. references, however, always put 
the full date, viz. b. c. 185-122. 

Print: pp. 16-18, not pp. 16-8; and not 
from 1672-74, but from 1672 to 1674. 

When preliminary pages are referred to 
by lower-case roman numerals, no full points 
should be used after the numerals. Print : — 

p. ii, pp. iii-x; not p. ii., pp. iii.-x. 

When references are made to two succes- 
sive text-pages print: pp. 6, 7, if the subject 
is disconnected in the two pages. But if the 
subject is continuous from one page to the 
other, then print pp. 6-7. 

Begin numbered paragraphs: 1. 2. &c; 
and clauses in paragraphs: (1) (2) (3), &c. 



English Spelling, Punctuation, etc. 137 

If Greek or roman lower-case letters are 
written, the compositor must follow copy. 
Roman numerals (I. II. III.) are usually 
reserved for chapters or important sections. 
References in the text to footnotes should 
be made by superior figures — which are 
to be placed, as regards punctuation marks, 
according to the sense. If a single word, 
say, is extracted and referred to, the reference 
must be placed immediately after the word 
extracted and before the punctuation mark. 
But if an extract be made which includes 
a complete sentence or paragraph, then the 
reference mark must be placed outside the 
last punctuation mark. Asterisks, superior 
letters, &c, may be used in special cases. 

ERRATA; ERRATUM 

Do not be guilty of the absurd mistake of 
printing ' Errata ' as a heading for a single 
correction. When a list of errors has been 
dealt with, by printing cancel pages and 
otherwise, so that dnly one error remains, 
take care to alter the heading from ' Errata ' 



138 A Practical Guide jor Authors 

to 'Erratum'. The same remarks apply to 
Addenda and Addendum, Corrigenda and 
Corrigendum. 



A or AN 


a European 


a universal 


a ewe 


a university 


a ewer 


a useful 


a herb 


a usurper 


a herbal 


an habitual l 


a heroic 


an heir 


a hospital 


an heirloom 


a humble 


an historical 1 


a unanimous 


an honest 


a uniform 


an honour 


a union 


an hotel 


a unique 


an hour 



NOR and OR 

Print: (1) Neither one nor the other; 
neither Jew nor Greek; neither Peter nor 
James. (2) Either one or the other; either 
Jew or Greek; either Peter or James. 

Never print: Neither one or the other; 
neither Peter or James ; — but when the sen- 

1 This is in accordance with what seems to be the prepon- 
derance of modern usage. Originally the cover of the New 
English Dictionary had *a historical', and the whole question 
will be found fully treated in the N. E. D. t arts. A, An, and H. 
— H. H. 



English Spelling , Punctuation, etc. 139 

tence is continued to a further comparison, 
w<?r and or must be printed (in the continua- 
tion) according to the sense. 1 

Likewise note that the verb should be in 
the singular, as ' Neither Oxford nor Reading 
is stated to have been represented'. 

POSSESSIVE CASE OF PROPER NAMES 

Use 's for the possessive case in English 
names and surnames whenever possible; 
i.e. in all monosyllables and disyllables, 
and in longer words accented on the penult; 
as — 

Augustus's Hicks's Thomas's 

Charles's St. James's Square Zacharias's 

Cousins's Nicodemus's St. Thomas's 

Gustavus's Jones's Thoms's 

1 The necessity of giving strict attention to this rule was once 
exemplified in my experience, when the printing of a fine quarto 
was passing through my hands in 1882. The author desired to 
say in the preface, ' The writer neither dares nor desires to claim 
for it the dignity or cumber it with the difficulty of an historical 
novel' {Lorna Doone, by R. D. Blackmore, 4to, 1883). The 
printer's reader inserted a letter n before the or; the author 
deleted the n, and thought he had got rid of it; but at the last 
moment the press reader inserted it again; and the word was 
printed as nor, to the exasperation of the author, who did not 
mince his words when he found out what had happened. 
— H. H. 



140 A Practical Guide for Authors 

In longer names, not accented on the 
penult, 's is also preferable, though ' is here 
admissible; e. g. Theophilus's. 

In ancient classical names, use 's with 
every monosyllable, e.g. Mars's, Zeus's. 
Also with disyllables not in -es ; as — 

Judas's Marcus's Venus's 

But poets in these cases sometimes use s' 
only; and Jesus' is a well-known liturgical 
archaism. In quotations from Scripture 
follow the Oxford standard. 1 

Ancient words in -es are usually written 
-es' in the possessive, e.g. 

Ceres' rites Xerxes' fleet 

This form should certainly be used in words 
longer than two syllables, e.g. 

Arbaces' Miltiades' 

Aristides' Themistocles' 

To pronounce another 's ( = es) after these 
is difficult. 

This applies only to ancient words. One 
writes — Moses' law; and I used to alight 
at Moses's for the British Museum. 

1 See p. 89 (note). — H. H. 



French Spelling, etc. 141 

As to the latter example, Moses, the tailor, 
was a modern man, like Thomas and Lewis; 
and in using his name we follow modern 
English usage. 

J. A. H. M. 

WORKS IN THE FRENCH LANGUAGE 

The English compositor called upon to 
set works in the French language will do 
well, first of all, to make a careful exami- 
nation of some examples from the best 
French printing-offices. He will find that 
French printers act on rules differing in 
many points from the rules to which the 
English compositor is accustomed; and he 
will not be able to escape from his difficulties 
by the simple expedient of 'following copy'. 

For works in the French language, such 
as classical textbooks for use in schools, 
the English compositor generally gets re- 
print copy for the text and MS. for the 
notes. It is, as a rule, safe for him to follow 
the reprint copy; but there is this difficulty, 
that when the work forms part of a series, it 



142 A Practical Guide for Authors 

does not always happen that the reprint copy 
for one book corresponds in typographical 
style with reprint copy for other works in the 
same series. Hence he should apply himself 
diligently to understand the following rules ; 
and should hunt out examples of their applica- 
tion, so that they may remain in his memory, 
i. Capital and lower-case letters. — In the 
names of authors of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, which are preceded by an article, the 
latter should commence with a capital letter: 
La Fontaine, La Bruy&re. 2 Exceptions are 
names taken from the Italian, thus : le Tasse, 
le Dante, le Correge. As to names of per- 
sons, the usage of the individuals them- 
selves should be adopted: de la Bruyere 
(his signature at the end of a letter), De la 
Fontaine (end of fable 'Le Lievre et la 

1 I am greatly indebted to M. Desire Greffier, author of Les 
Regies de la composition typographique, a Vusage des composi- 
teurs , des correcteurs et des imprimeurs, and to his publisher, 
M. Arnold Muller, of the Imprimerie des Beaux-Arts, 36 Rue 
de Seine, Paris, for permission to translate and make extracts 
from this useful brochure. — H. H. 

2 M. Greffier carefully explains that in putting capitals to the 
articles in the case of these and similar names he differs from 
the Academie francaise. — H. H. 



French Spelling, etc. 143 

Tortue'), Lamartine, Le Verrier, Maxime 
Du Camp. In names of places the article 
should be small: le Mans, le Havre, which 
the Academie adopts; la Ferte, with no 
hyphen after the article, but connected by 
a hyphen with different names of places, as 
la Ferte-sous-Jouarre. 

Volumes, books, titles, acts of plays, the 
years of the Republican Calendar, are put 
in large capitals: An IV, acte V, tome VI; 
also numerals belonging to proper names: 
Louis XII; and the numbers of the arron- 
dissements of Paris: le XV e arrondissement. 

Scenes of plays, if there are no acts, are 
also put in large caps. : Les Precieuses ridi- 
cules, sc. V; also chapters, if they form 
the principal division : Joseph, ch. VI. If, 
however, scenes of plays and chapters are 
secondary divisions, they are put in small 
capitals: Le Cid, a. I, sc. 11; Histoire de 
France, liv. VI, ch. vii. The numbers of 
centuries are generally put in small capitals : 
au xix e siecle. 

The first word of a title always takes 



144 A- Practical Guide for Authors 

a capital letter: J'ai vu jouer Les Femmes 
savantes ; on lit dans Le Radical. If a sub- 
stantive in a title immediately follows Le, 
La, Les, Un, Une, it is also given a capi- 
tal letter, thus: Les Precieuses ridicules. If 
the substantive is preceded by an adjective, 
this also receives a capital letter: La Folle 
Journee ; if, however, the adjective follows, 
it is in lower-case: VAge ingrat. If the 
title commences with any other word than 
le, la, les, un, une, or an adjective, the words 
following are all in lower-case: De la terre 
a la lune ; Sur la piste. 

In titles of fables or of dramatic works 
the names of the characters are put with 
capital initials: Le Renard et les Raisins; 
Le Lion et le Rat; Marceau, ou les Enfants 
de la R£publique. 

In catalogues or indexes having the first 
word or words in parentheses after the sub- 
stantive commencing the line, the first word 
thus transposed has a capital letter: Homme 
(Faiblesse de V)\ Honneur (L'); Niagara 
(Les Chutes du). 



French Spelling, etc, 145 

If the words in parentheses are part of the 
title of a work, the same rule is followed 
as to capitals as above given: Heloise (La 
Nouvelle); Mort (La Vie ou la). 

The words saint, sainte, when referring to 
the saints themselves, have, except when com- 
mencing a sentence, always lower-case ini- 
tials: saint Louis, saint Paul, sainte Cecile. 
But when referring to names of places, feast- 
days, &c, capital letters and hyphens are 
used: Saint- Domingue, la Saint- Jean. (See 
also, as to abbreviations of Saint, Sainte, 

P- I55-) 

I. Use capital letters as directed below: 

(1) Words relating to God: le Seigneur, 
PEtre supreme, le Tres-Haut, le Saint-Esprit. 

(2) In enumerations, if each one com- 
mences a new line, a capital is put imme- 
diately after the figure: 

1° L'Europe. 
2° L'Asie, &c. 

But if the enumeration is run on, lower-case 
letters are used: 1° PEurope, 2° PAsie, &c. 
If, in works divided into articles, the first 



146 A Practical Guide for Authors 

article is put in full (thus: Article premier), 
those that follow may be in figures and 
abbreviated (as Art. 2). 

(3) Words representing abstract qualities 
personified : La Renommee ne vient souvent 
qu'apres la Mort. 

(4) The planets and constellations : Mars, 
le Belier. 

(5) Religious festivals: la Pentecote. 

(6) Historical events: la Revolution. 

(7) The names of streets, squares, &c: 
la rue des Mauvais- Galons, la place du 
Trone, la fontaine des Innocents. 

(8) The names of public buildings, 
churches, &c. : POpera, POdeon, eglise de 
la Trinite. 

(9) Names relating to institutions, public 
bodies, religious, civil, or military orders 
(but only the word after the article) : PAca- 
demie fran9aise, la Legion d'honneur, le 
Conservatoire de musique. 

(10) Surnames and nicknames, without 
hyphens: Louis le Grand. 

^11) Honorary titles: Son Eminence, 
Leurs Altesses. 



French Spelling, etc. 147 

(12) Adjectives denoting geographical ex- 
pressions: la mer Rouge, le golfe Persique. 

(13) The names of the cardinal points de- 
signating an extent of territory: PAmerique 
du Nord; aller dans le Midi. (See II. (2).) 

(14) The word Eglise, when it denotes the 
Church as an institution: 1' Eglise catholique; 
but when relating to a building, eglise is 
put. 

(15) The word Etat when it designates 
the nation, the country: La France est un 
puissant Etat. 

II. Use lower-case initials for — 

(1) The names of members of religious 
orders: un carme (a Carmelite), un templier 
(a Templar). But the orders themselves take 
capitals: 1'ordre des Templiers, des Carmes. 

(2) The names of the cardinal points: le 
nord, le sud. But see I. (13) above. 

(3) Adjectives belonging to proper names: 
la langue franchise, l'ere napoleonienne. 

(4) Objects named from persons or places : 
un quinquet (an argand lamp); un verre de 
champagne. 



148 A Practical Guide for Authors 

(5) Days of the week — lundi, mardi; 
names of months — juillet, aotit. 

1. In Plays the dramatis personae at the 
head of scenes are put in large capitals, and 
those not named in even small capitals : — 

SCENE V. 
TRIBOULET, BLANCHE, hommes, 

FEMMES DU PEUPLE. 

In the dialogues the names of the speakers 
are put in even small capitals, and placed in 
the centre of the line. The stage directions 
and the asides are put in smaller type, and 
are in the text, if verse, in parentheses over 
the words they refer to. If there are two 
stage directions in one and the same line, it 
will be advisable to split the line, thus: — 

(Revenu sur ses pas.) 
Oublions-les! restons. — 

(II s'assied sur un banc.) 
Sieds-toi sur cette pierre. 

Directions not relating to any particular 
words of the text are put, if short, at the 
end of the line : — 

Celui que Ton croit mort n'est pas mort. — Le 
voicil (Etonnement general.) 



French Spelling, etc. 149 

2. Accented Capitals. — With one excep- 
tion accents are to be used with capital letters 
in French. The exception is the grave accent 
on the capital letter A in such lines as — 

A la porte de la maison, &c; 
A cette epoque, &c; 

and in display lines such as — 

FECAMP A GENEVE 
MACHINES A VAPEUR. 

In these the preposition A takes no accent; 
but we must, to be correct, print Etienne, 
Etretat; and d£pot, eveque, prevot in 
cap. lines. 1 

1 M. Reyne, proof-reader in the National Government 
Printing-Office, Paris, tells me that there is no uniformity of 
practice in French printing-offices in regard to the accentuation 
of capital letters generally, although there is a consensus of 
opinion as to retaining accents for the letter E. As to the grave 
accent on the capital letter A, the two extracts which follow are 
sufficient authority: — 

1 The letter A, when a capital, standing for a, is never accented 
by French printers. This, I know, is a rule without exception ; 
and one of the reasons given is that the accented capital is 
" ugly". A better reason is that the accent often "breaks off *V 
— Mr, Leon Delbos, M.A., Instructor in French to Royal 
Naval Cadets in H. M. S. 'Britannia \ 

1 The practice of omitting the grave accent on the preposition 
A (whatever the reason of it may be) is all but universal.' — 
Mr. E. G. W. Braunholtz, M. A., Ph. D., Reader in the Ro- 
mance Languages in the University of Cambridge. [H. H.J 



150 A Practical Guide for Authors 

3. The Grave and Acute Accents. — There 
has been an important change in recent 
years as to the use of the grave and acute 
accents in French. It has become customary 
to spell with a grave accent (") according to 
the pronunciation, instead of with an acute 
accent ('), certain words such as college 
(instead of college), avenement (instead of 
avenement), &c. The following is a list 
of the most common : — 



allege 


evenement 


piege 


PAriege 


florilege 


privilege 


arpege 


grege 


sacrilege 


avenement 


lege 


sacrilegement 


barege 


Liege, liege 1 


siege 


college 


manege 


solfege 


le Correge 


mege [Norwege 


sortilege 


cortege 


la Norvege or 


sphege 3 



4. Hyphens. — Names of places contain- 
ing an article or the prepositions en, de, 

1 'The rule about e instead of e, as in college instead of 
college, should be strictly adhered to, as it now is by most 
French people. However, e cannot be changed into e unless it 
have that sound; hence it is not right to say Liegeois, for the 
sound is that of 6 ; but Liege is correct. Note that Liegeois 
takes an e after the g."' — Mr. Leon Delbos. 

2 The list is from Gasc's Dictionary of the French and Eng- 
lish Languages: G. Bell & Sons, 1889. 



French Spelling, etc. 151 

should have a hyphen between each com- 
ponent part, thus: Saint- Germain-des-Pres, 
Saint-Valery-en-Caux, although the Acade- 
mie leaves out the last two hyphens. 

Names of places, public buildings, or 
streets, to which one or more distinguishing 
words are added, take hyphens: Saint- 
Etienne-du-Mont, Vitry-le-Francois, rue du 
Faubourg-Montmartre, le Pont-Neuf, le 
Palais-Royal, THotel-de-la-Monnaie. 

In numbers hyphens are used to connect 
quantities under 100: e.g. vingt-quatre; 
trois cent quatre-vingt-dix; but when et 
joins two cardinal numbers no hyphen is 
used, e.g. vingt et un; cinquante et un. 
But print vingt-et-unieme. 

5. Spacing. — No spaces to be put before 
the * points de suspension', i.e. three points 
close together, cast in one piece, denoting 
an interruption (...). In very wide spacing 
a thin space may be put before a comma 1 , or 

1 The English practice, never to put a space before a comma, 
is regarded by the best French printers as bad. 'This vicious 
practice"' (i. e. putting no space before a comma), says M. 
Theotiste Lefevre, 'which appears to us to have no other motive 



152 A Practical Guide for Authors 

before or after a parenthesis or a bracket. 
Colons, metal-rules, section-marks, daggers, 
and double-daggers take a space before or 
after them exactly as words. Asterisks and 
superior figures, not enclosed in parentheses, 
referring to notes, take a thin or middle 
space before them. Points of suspension 
are always followed by a space. For guille- 
mets see pp. 160-3. 

A space is put after an apostrophe follow- 
ing a word of two or more syllables (as 
a Frenchman reckons syllables, e.g. bonne 
is a word of two syllables) : — 

Bonn' petite... Aimab* enfant!... 

Spaces are put in such a case as 10 h. 
15 m. 10 s. (10 hours 15 min. 10 sec), also 
printed 10 h 15 m 10 s . 

Chemical symbols are not spaced, thus 
C IO H I2 (OH)CO.OH. 

6. Awkward divisions: abbreviated words 
and large numbers expressed in figures. — 

than the negligence of the compositor, tends unhappily, from day 
to day, to get introduced also into French composition.' — Guide 
pratique du compositeur et de Vimprimeur typographer (p. 196,^.), 
par T. Lefevre. Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1883. — H. H. 



French Spelling, etc. 153 

One should avoid ending a line with 
an apostrophe, such as: Quoi qu' I vous 
dites ? 

If a number expressed in figures is too 
long to be got into a line, or cannot be taken 
to the next without prejudice to the spacing, 
part of the number should be put as a word, 
thus: 100 mil- | lions. 

7. Division of words. — Words should be 
divided according to syllables, as in what 
the French call epellation (i. e. syllabica- 
tion). Therefore a consonant should never be 
separated from the vowel following. Thus 
divide: amou-reux, cama-rade; and always 
take over vr : li-vraison. If a consonant is 
doubled, the consonants may be divided: 
mil-lion, pil-lard, in-nocent. It is optional 
to divide ob-scurite or obs-curite, according 
to convenience. Vowels are divided only in 
compound words: e.g. extra-ordinaire; not 
Mo-abite, mo-yen. 

In compound words an apostrophe may 
be divided from a consonant following; 
thus: grand'-mere, grand'-route. 



154 A Practical Guide for Authors 

Divide sei-gneur, indi-gnite (gn pronounced 
as ni in ' mania'), i. e. take gn over. 

The following divisions should be avoided : 
Ma-ximilien, soi-xante, Me-xique; e-legant. 
In a narrow measure a syllable of two letters 
may stand at the end of a line: ce-pendant, 
in-decis; but a syllable of two letters must 
not be taken over to the next line; there- 
fore elegan-ce, adversi-te, are not permis- 
sible; but elegan-ces, mar-que, abri-cot, are 
tolerated. 

Avoid terminating a paragraph with only 
the final syllable of a word in the last line. 

Verbs taking the so-called euphonic t 
should always be divided before the latter, 
thus : Viendra- I t-il ? 

Avoid dividing abbreviated words. 

Etymological division finds no favour in 
French, unless it is in accord with epellation, 
or syllabication, as in trans-porter, trans- 
poser. But divide transi-tion, transi-ger. 

Mute syllables may be turned over to the 
next line, thus: ils mar-quent, les hom-mes. 

8. Abbreviations. — Such words as article, 



French Spelling, etc, 155 

chapitre, scene, titre, figure, are abbreviated 
only when in parentheses, as references; in 
the text they are put in full. 

Saint, sainte, when they occur very often, 
as in religious works, may be abbreviated, 
taking a capital letter: S. Louis, Ste. Marie. 
But not when they form part of the name 
of a place, e.g. Saint- Germain-des-Pres; in 
which case Saint- and Sainte- take a capital 
and are followed by a hyphen. 1 (See also 

P- I45-) 

The words monsieur, madame, monsei- 
gneur, messeigneurs, messieurs, mesdames, 
mademoiselle, mesdemoiselles, are written 
in full and all in lower-case when address- 
ing a person: Oui, madame; Non, monsieur 
le due. Also in the following instances: 
J'espere que monseigneur viendra; j'ai vu 
monsieur votre pere. In most other cases 
M. (for monsieur), M me (for madame), Mgr. 
or M^ (for monseigneur), and so on, are 
used. The words Sa Majeste, Son Eminence, 

1 St-Germain, Ste-Catherine, Teglise de St-Sulpice, St- 
Hilaire, la St- Jean, are, however, met with in railway time- 
tables, &c. 



156 A Practical Guide for Authors 

Leurs Altesses, when followed by another title, 
are put as initials, thus S. M. PEmpereur; 
but not otherwise. 

The name Jesus- Christ is abbreviated only 
when in parentheses after a date, thus: (337 
avant J.-C). This is also frequently printed 
337 AJ.C. 

Per cent, is generally put 0/0, but pour 
100, p. 100, and % are also used. In business 
letters pour cent is always pour %, e.g. 
A trente jours, 3 pour % d'escompte. 

Other examples of abbreviations: — 



liv. 


(livre) 


c.-a-d 


. (c'est-a-dire) 


ch. 


(chapitre) 


c ie 


(compagnie) 


t. 


(tome) 


m. 


(metre) 


d° 


(ditto) 


1. 


(litre) 


f° 


(folio) 


D r 


(docteur) 


in-f° 


(in-folio) 


M e 


(maitre) 


in-8° 


(in-octavo) 


M Ue 


(mademoiselle) 


in-4 


(in-quarto) 


N.-S. 


J.-C. 


ms. 


(manuscrit) 




(Notre-Seigneur) 


mss. 


(manuscrits) 




Jesus-Christ) 


n° 


(numero) 


C te 


(comte) 


P.-S. 


(post-scriptum 


M is 


(marquis) 


I er ) 




yve 


(veuve) 


l er ] 


(premier) 


S.A. 


(Son Altesse) 


II, 2 € 


5 (deuxieme) 


LL. AA. II. (Leurs Altesses 


etc. 


(et cetera) 




Imperiales) 



French Spelling, etc. 157 

Put: 20 francs, 20 metres, 20 litres, 20 
milligrammes. If, however, followed by frac- 
tions, then put — 

20 fr. 50 ^ f20 fr ,50 

20 m. 50 I J 20 m ,50 

20 1. 50 f ^ ] 2Ql ' 50 

20 milligr. 50 J ^ 20 milli s r ,50 

In works crowded with figures, one can 
even put — 

m ,5 ^ ( 5 decimetres 

m ,15 > for < 15 centimetres 

m ,008 J ^ 8 millimetres 

The cubic metre followed by a fraction is 
given thus: 4 mc ,5oo or 4 ra3 ,5oo; the square 
metre thus: 4 mq ,5oo or 4 m2 ,5oo. 

The French use a decimal comma instead 
of a decimal point — 2,3 = 2-3. 

The words kilogrammes, kilometres, and 
kilogrammetres, followed by fractions, are 
given thus: 50 kg. 30 or 5o kg ,3o; 5km. 3 
or 5^,3; 2 kgm. 4 or 2 kgm ,4. 

In measures of the metric system the fol- 
lowing abbreviations are also common : — 

mq = metre carre mmq = millimetre carre 

mm = millimetre mmc = millimetre cube 



158 A Practical Guide for Authors 

9. Numerals. — When cardinal numbers 
are expressed in roman lower-case letters, 
the final unit should be expressed by a j, 
not an i, thus: ij, iij, vj, viij. 

Numbers are put in full if only occa- 
sionally occurring in the text. If used 
statistically, figures are used. 

Degrees of temperature are given thus: 
15 , 15 (in English 15 15'). 

Age or the time of day must be given in 
full: huit ans, six heures (eight years, six 
o'clock). 

Dates, figures, &c, are put in full in legal 
documents: Tan mil neuf cent quatre (the 
year one thousand nine hundred and four). 

One should not put ' de 5 a 6,000 hommes ', 
but 'de 5,000 a 6,000 hommes'. 

Commas in figures are used as in English, 
thus: 20,250^.25 or 20,250^,25. But dates, 
and numbers in general, are put without 
a comma: annee 1466; page 1250; Code 
civil, art. 2000. 

Fractions with a horizontal stroke are 
preferred in mathematical and scientific 



French Spelling, etc. 159 

works; but in ordinary works the diagonal 
stroke is used, thus: 1/2, 2/3 (j£, #). 

10. Roman and italics. — In algebraical 
formulae the capital letters are always put 
in roman and the small letters in italics. 
If, however, the text is in italics, the small 
letters are put in roman type. 

The titles of works, of plays, of journals, 
names of ships, of statues, and titles of tables 
mentioned in the text, are put in italics ; thus 
La piece La Chatte blanche] J'ai vu Les Rois 
en exil; On lit dans Le Figaro; le journal 
Le Temps; le transport Bien-Hoa. 

Foreign words ' and quotations are, as 
in English, italicized: Agir ab irato ; Cave 
canem ! lisait-on... 

Superior letters in words italicized should 
be in italics, thus : Histoire de Napoleon I er . 

11. Reference figures. — References to 
notes are generally rendered thus: (1), or 
thus : l . Sometimes an asterisk between 
parentheses (*) or standing alone *, or italic 
superior letters ( a ), are used. The second 

1 That is, words foreign to French. — H. H. 



160 A Practical Guide for Authors 

example (*) is the best from the English point 
of view. 

The figure in the note itself is put either 
1. or (1) or l . In many works the reference 
figure is put *, and the note-figure 1. 

12. Metal-rules. — These serve in French 
to denote conversational matter, and take 
a thick space (or more, if necessary) after 
them. In fact, metal-rules, as in German, 
always have a space before or after, and 
are never put close to a word as in English. 
They are likewise never put after colons. 

They are also used to give more force to 
a point : II avait un coeur d'or, — mais une 
tete folle; et vraiment, — je puis le dire, 
— il £tait d'un caractere tres agreable. 

They are likewise used, as in English, for 
intercalations : Cette femme — £trangfere 
sans doute — etait tres agee. 

13. Quotation marks. — The French use 
special quotations marks (( )) (called 
guillemets). A guillemet is repeated at the 
head of every subsequent paragraph belong- 
ing to the quotation. 



French Spelling, etc. 161 

In conversational matter, guillemets are 
sometimes put at the commencement and 
end of the remarks, and the individual utter- 
ances are denoted by a metal-rule (with 
a space after). But it is more common to 
dispense with guillemets altogether, and to 
denote the commencement of the conversa- 
tion by only a metal-rule. This is an impor- 
tant variation from the English method. 

If the )) comes after points de suspension, 
a middle space is put before and after it : — 

La cour a decrete qu' « attendu Purgence... » . 

If, in dialogues, a passage is quoted, the 
(( is put before the metal-rule: — 

« — Demain, a minuit, nous sortirons enfin ! » 

In tables and workings the )) is used to 

denote an absent quantity : — 

125 . 15 130 » 

10 » 15 . 25 

If a sentence contains a citation, the point 
at the end of the latter is put before the )), and 
the point belonging to the sentence after : — 

« Prenez garde au chien! » , lisait-on a Pentree des 
maisons romaines. 



1 62 A Practical Guide for Authors 

If the matter quoted ends with a full 
stop, and a comma follows in the sentence, 
the full stop is suppressed : — 

« C'est par le sang et par le fer que les Etats gran- 
dissent » , a dit Bismarck. 

Also, if the point at the end of the citation 
is a full stop, and the sentence ends with 
a note of interrogation or exclamation, the 
full stop is suppressed : — 

A-t-il dit: « Je reviendrai »? 

If citation and sentence end with the 
same point, or if the sentence ends with 
a full stop, only the citation is pointed : — 

Quel bonheur d'entendre: « Je vous aime! » 
A-t-il dit: « Qui est ici? » 
II a dit: « Je viendrai. » 

But if the punctuation of the citation 
differs from that of the sentence, both points 
are put : — 

A-t-il dit: « Quel grand malheur! »? 

Guillemets should have before and after 
them the same space as between words. 
In the case of a citation within a citation, 



German Spelling, etc. 163 

the « must stand at the commencement of 
each line of the enclosed citation : — 

On lit dans Le Radical: « Une malheureuse erreur 
a ete commise par un de nos artistes du boulevard. 
Ayant a dire: « Mademoiselle, je ne veux qu'un mot 
« de vous! » , il a fait entendre ces paroles: « Mademoi- 
« selle, je ne veux qu'un mou de veau! » 

In passages quoted down the side put an 
en quad after the (( commencing each Une. 

Only one )) is put at the end of two cita- 
tions ending simultaneously. 

WORKS IN THE GERMAN LANGUAGE 

English compositors called upon to set 
up German should have clear directions be- 
forehand as to the founts to be used, whether 
English or German. If the MS. is in well- 
written German script, and the compositor 
is acquainted with the German characters, 
he will find little difficulty in setting this up 
in German type. It is otherwise if he has 
to set German in its own characters from 
MS. in Roman characters. This is owing 
principally to the numerous digraphs and the 



164 A Practical Guide for Authors 

long and short s's used. The following rules 
will be found of use in both cases : — 

1. Capitals and lower-case. — All German 
substantives are written with capital initial 
letters; and capital letters are also used 
for adjectives in geographical designations, 
e.g. ba$ (£aftrifd)e STOeer (the Caspian Sea); 
but as a rule adjectives, even when relating 
to nationality, have lower-case initials, not 
excepting titles of books, &c, thus: bag 
beutfdje SSaterlanb, bte franjoftfdje 9tootution 
(the German Fatherland, the French Re- 
volution). 

The toon in German names of persons 
begins with a small letter (unless of course 
when it commences a sentence), e.g. £>err 
Don Sixtotth 

The fcon in such cases requires only a 
thin space after it: ©efd)rieben t)0tt t)on9ftd)ter 
(written by von Richter). 

2. The Reformed German Spelling. — All 
words ending in tl), as 9J?utlj, 9£atf), 2Butl), 
now drop the i) and become 9ttut, Stat, SBut, 
&c. £fjat has become Sat, £ljor is now Xox, 



German Spelling, etc. 165 

tljatt is now spelt tun, SBittfiiljr has become 
SBtllfiir. 2te, £)e, Ue, are now always rendered 

% £>, ft. 

Three identical letters should not come 
together. Consequently print ©djtffcttyrt, not 
©djtfffaljrt (but in dividing print ©djtff*fal)rt). 
The plural of ©ee is no longer ©eeett,. but 
(Seen ; in narrow measure divide ©ee*en. 

The suffix *mf} is now *m$ : §htbenti8. 3 * s 
often used for £, thus : Centrum f° r Centrum- 

The verbal suffix 4ren is now uniformly 
written 4erett, thus: ctbbteren, fubtral)teren, tnultt* 
ptigteren, bitiibteren. 

A detailed list of the new German ortho- 
graphies * may be obtained through any 
foreign publisher. Many German writers 
object to the modern spelling; in such cases, 
of course, copy should be followed. 

3. Hyphens in German. — If two or more 
words follow one another, relating to a com- 
mon part of speech with which they form a 
compound, all except the last take a hyphen, 

1 A very useful little book is that by K. Duden, Meyer's 
Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig and Vienna, price 3 d. — 
H. H. 



1 66 A Practical Guide for Authors 

thus: $uU unb $ratoattenfakifant (hat and tie 
manufacturer) ; $afe*, Sutter- unb 2ttitd)t)orrate 
(cheese, butter, and milk stores). 

Note that compound words in German 
are now printed as one word. 

4. Division of words in German. — Prefixes 
should of course remain intact, such as an, 
auf, cut, emp, toor, fiber, get. Thus: cm^fangen, 
auHaljren, ent^toeten, emp=fmben, toor^ritcfen, iiber- 
reben, ger^ftoften. (See under paragraph 2 of 
this section, ' Reformed Spelling', for three 
identical letters coming together. See also 
under 7, n, 14.) 

5. Spaced words. — In these the following 
compound letters should never be spaced: 
dj, cf, ft, ft, ft, fc. The following are spaced : 
ff, (I, ft, ff. That is, two different conso- 
nants coming together are not spaced; but 
a consonant and vowel, and double conso- 
nants, are to be spaced. 

6. Prepositional and other prefixes in Ger- 
man. — When auf precedes a part of speech 
commencing with f, the two fs should not 
form one letter. Print auf fafyren, not auffaljren. 



German Spelling, etc. 167 

So also, when ctuS is prefix to a part of 
speech beginning with an f, it should not 
form with the latter an f or ff if German 
type is used. Print au$fpred)en, not aufftredjen 
or aufforedjett. 

If ent precedes a part of speech beginning 
with 3, the t and j do not form one letter, but 
remain separate: eittjtoetett, not en^toeien. 

7. Suffixes fid), gig. — The letter 1 in the 
former should not be joined to a preceding f, 
nor the letter j in the latter to a preceding t 
Print bertoerfftdj, not bertoerfltdj ; adjtjtg, not 
adjfctg. So also, in dividing, put &ertoerf4idj 
(or Der*toerffidj) and adjkjtg. 

8. German in Roman type. — In roman 
type fj is always rendered ss; and in spaced 
words all letters are separated. 

9. Metal-rules in German. — Spaces are 
always put before and after a rule in a sen- 
tence, wide spaces in a widely spaced line, thin 
spaces in a narrowly spaced one, exactly as 
with words, thus : (Sr fagte — tttdjt oljne 3<robem 
— baft er ge^en miiffe. 1 

1 He said — not without hesitation — that he must depart. 



1 68 A Practical Guide for Authors 

Rules are not put after colons. 

io. Quotation marks in German. — The 

commencement of a quotation is indicated 
by commas followed by a thin space; the 
close by turned commas. A quotation within 
a quotation is usually rendered by a single 
roman comma at commencement, and by 
a, turned roman comma at the end 1 ; thus: 
Sr fagte mtr: „ ©el)e md)t ljut, bemt e$ Ijetftt, baft e$ 
bort toon,©eiftern'fpuft.'' 2 

ii. ff. — This is always printed as one 
letter at the end of a syllable or word, as 
also in the body of a word if the latter is not 
a compound, thus: fdjafftoS (now, however, 
written fd)affo§, but divided fd)aff4o$); totfl, 
foil ; iuoffen, foffett. But in compound words, 
in which the first I ends a syllable and the 
second I commences the next one, the two 
t's must be separated, thus: t)iettetd)t (divided 
0iet4ettf)tX 

12. ff, §, gf. — All three in roman type 
= ss. The first (ff) is put where two sylla- 

1 Single German commas are, however, also used. 

2 He said to me, 'Do not go there, for they say it is haunted 
by "ghosts " \ 



German Spelling, etc. 169 

bles come together, neither of which gives 
sense in itself, thus : eff en, ntitffen. 

For the second (fj) see next rule. 

The third (sf ) is employed when the first 5 
ends one syllable and the second commences 
the next, each syllable giving sense taken 
singly, i.e. in compounds, thus: (giSfdjoHe 
(ice-block), ba3fetbe, be§fetben. 

I 3« B- — The employment of this presents 
difficulty without a knowledge of the pro- 
nunciation of the language. It is either 
preceded by a long vowel in the body of 
a word, or stands after a short vowel at 
the end of a word or syllable, thus: liege, 
gteften, Slope ; fjaftttd), tnutmapdj; 9?nft, Snfe, 
§af$. But always: ntitffen, id iff en, taffen, as 
short vowels precede in the body of the 
word. 

14. Double letters. — d), cf, ff, ft fl, % ft, ff, ft, 
§, fc. No triple letters, like the English ffi, ffl, 
are used in German. — ffi, ssi, are usually 
printed ffi, ffi, as pftfftg, bif fig ; ffl is printed ffl, 
as trefflid). 

As regards ft, the f and 1 must be sepa- 



170 A Practical Guide for Authors 

rated if the latter belongs to a suffix, thus: 
fdjtctftoS, not fdjtafloS. 

*5« f/ 3. — The long s is used at the com- 
mencement, the short s at the end of syllables. 

16. Abbreviations in German. — The most 
common are: u. f. to. ( = unb fo toetter, and so 
on, et cetera); g. 33. ( = jam SBeifptel, for exam- 
ple) ; b. Ij. ( = ba§ Ijetfjt, that is to say) ; b. i. 
(= ba$ ift, that is); bgl. (= bergletdjen, similar 
cases) ; u. a. m. ( = unb anbere tnefjr, and oth- 
ers); f. (= ftefye, see); f. 0. (= ftel) oben, see 
above); f. u. (= ftel) unten, see below); u. 0. 
(= unb ofter, passim); fog. (= fog enamtt, so- 
called); 3lufl. (=3tuflage, unaltered edition); 
StuSg. (— 2iu3gabe, revised edition); 2lbt. ( = 
2lbteUung, division) ; 2lbfd)it.(=3lbf(i)mtt, section). 

After ordinal numbers a full point is put 
where w r e put '1st, 2nd', &c, thus: 1. §eft 
(or 1. £>., = erfted §eft, first number); 2. 
33anb (or 2. 33b., = gtoetter 93anb, second vol- 
ume). This full point is often mistaken by 
compositors and readers for a full stop. 

For & in ' &c.' the Germans have a special 
character i, thus: :c. 



Division of Latin Words 171 

DIVISION OF LATIN WORDS 

The general rules are practically Pris- 
cian's. They are well summarized in Gilder- 
sleeve's Latin Grammar. 

1. 'In dividing a word into syllables, 
a consonant between two vowels belongs to 
the second: a-mo, li-xa. 

2. 'Any combination of consonants that 
can begin a word (including rnn, under 
Greek influence) belongs to the following 
vowel; in other combinations the first con- 
sonant belongs to the preceding vowel : a-sper, 
jau-stus, li-bri, a-mnis. 

3. ' The combinations incapable of be- 
ginning a word are (a) doubled consonants: 
sic-cus) (b) a liquid and a consonant: al- 
mus, am-bo, an-guis, ar-bor. 

4. 'Compounds are treated by the best 
grammarians as if their parts were sepa- 
rate words: ab-igo, res-publican 

To take a page of Cicero : — 

con-sequi so-lent ex-ponimus a-criter cri-mi-no-se 
dili-gen-ter a-gi re-rum con-se-quentium miseri-cor- 
dia com-movebitur au-di-to-ris a-ni-mus osten-demus 



172 A Practical Guide jor Authors 

com-modis cu-ius cu-i quo-rum qui-bus-que (not qui- 
bu-sque) us-que (because the parts are separate) ca- 
ptabimus pote-statem sub-i-ci-e-mus pa-renti-bus neces- 
sarlis cle-men-tia. 

Again : — # 

eius-modi, cuius-modi, huius-modi (not eiu-smodi, 
&c.) con-iun-ctim (I should suppose, not con-iunc- 
tim) am-plifica-stis e-stis vetu-stas hone-stus onu-stus 
sus-cipere sub-trahit ad-trahit in-struit circu-it simul- 
tate re-ce-den-dum di-co di-xi-sti di-xe-rat di-ctum 
a-ctum au-ctus ma-gnus i-gnis mali-gnus pi-gnus li- 
gna pec-catum demon-stra-stis (I am rather doubtful 
about this) ma-gis ma-xime dif-fi-cul-tas la-brum la- 
mna lar-gus lon-ge di-gnus sum-pserim su-mo sum- 
mus su-prema propter-ea, and probably pro-pter-ea 
(but again I am in some doubt) dis-tin-ctus dis-tin-guo 
ad-s pectus, a-s pectus tem-ptavit il-lu-stris. Most of 
these are already adopted in editions of authority, e. g. 
Nobbe's Cicero, Haase's Seneca. 

Robinson Ellis. 



DIVISION OF GREEK WORDS 

A syllable ends in a vowel except — 
1. If a consonant is doubled, the con- 
sonants are divided. 

Svpa/couV-o-as (Bacch. *), 7roA.-Ao) (Thuc), and 
SO BdtK-^os, 2a7r-<£cS, 'At-0is. 

1 The references are to the papyri. 



Division of Greek Words 173 

2. If the first of two or more consonants 
is a liquid or nasal, 1 it is divided from the 
others. 

(Two consonants) a/x-<£a/C€S, cy-xcWaAoi/, 
T€p-7rov (Bacch.), 7rav-T€S (ThllC.), aA-cros. 

(Three consonants) av-Opwirois, ip-xOevros 
(Bacch.), av-8pw (Thuc). 

But fid-KTpov, Karo-TrrpoV) i-xOpos* 
(Four consonants) 0eA-/crpov, Aa/x-7rrpai. 

3. Compounds. For modern printing 
the preference must be to divide the com- 
pounds 7rap-oVros, ty-yprjfJLCvos (Thuc), but 

a-Tri-fir) may stand as well as dTr-c/fy. 

H. Stuart Jones. 

1 Or according to some, if it is o* — e/cacr-Toy (Hyp. Blass 3 , 
p. xvii), but the preference is for TrAet-trToi, eKOfil-ffdrjaaj/y 
(iovKefc-adai (Thuc), i-vrptydti (s. v. 1., Bacch.). 



INDEX 



INDEX 



A choice of publishers, 7, 10. 
A common misunderstanding 
as to American and English 
publishing houses, 19. 
Accents, 150. 
Advance royalties, 9, 45. 
Adverb, 71. 
Advertising, 15, 42. 
Agreements and contracts, 28. 
a specimen form of con- 
tract, 30. 
terms, etc., 28. 
the basis of a royalty, 34. 
American rules for spelling 

and punctuation, etc., 60. 
Anglicized words, 102. 
Announcements, 42, 44. 
Author's copies, 34, 40. 
Author's corrections in proof, 
51,58. 
cost of, 51. 

Bindings and covers, 38, 41. 
Blue pencil, the, 5. 
British market, the, 19. 

how to secure it, 19. 

and American publishers, 
19. 

Capital letters, 61, 72. 

English rules, 112. 

in French, 142. 

in German, 164. 
Century Dictionary, the, 61, 
82. 



Circulars, 42. 
Commission, 29. 
Common-school books, 36. 
Complimentary copies, 34, 40. 
Compounds, 69, 106. 
Contractions generally, yy, 78, 
107, 155, 156. 
of colloquial expressions, 

78. 

of Latin words not in 

italic, 108. 
of names of counties, 108. 
of points of the compass, 

109. 
of Scripture references, 
107. 
Contracts, terms of, 26. 
a specimen form of, 30. 
liabilities under, 29, 30. 
Copy, preparation of, 1. 
typewritten, 2. 
manuscript, 2. 
Copyright, how to secure it, 

17. 
ownership and control of, 

17. 
of American books in 

Great Britain, 17, 22. 
Correcting proof, 48, 51, 58. 
Cost of correcting errors, 51. 
Covers and cover designs, 

• 38. 

Cumulative effect of publish- 
ing, 24, 25. 
Cuts and illustrations, 4, 52. 



i 7 8 



Index 



Dates, 136. 

Descriptive circulars, 42, 44. 
Dictionary, the Century, 61, 
82. 

the Standard, 61 , 82. 

Webster's, 61, 62. 

Worcester's, 61, 62. 

the New English, SS f 
89. 
Digraphs, in English, 101. 

in German, 169. 
Division of words, in English, 
61, 71, 118. 

in French, 153. 

in German, 166. 

in Greek, 172. 

in Italian, 120. 

in Latin, 171. 

in Portuguese, 120. 

in Spanish, 120. 
Dramatization, rights, 29. 

Educational books, 36. 
English market, the, 19. 

editions, 21. 
English rules for spelling and 

punctuation, 85, 86. 
Export of editions, 22. 
Express, safest way to send 

MSS., 2. 
Extracts and quotations, 3. 

" F." proofs, 49. 
Figures and numerals, 134. 
Footnotes and notes, 3, 159. 
Foundry proof, 49. 
French, abbreviations, 154. 

accented capitals, 149. 

accents, 150. 

capital and lower case 
letters, 142. 



division of words, 153. 
hyphens, 150. 
italics, 159. 
metal rules, 160. 
numerals, 158. 
quotation marks, 160. 
reference figures, 159. 
roman and italics, 159. 
spacing, 151. 
spelling, 141. 

Galley proof, 48, 52. 
German, abbreviations, 170. 

capital and lower case 
letters, 164. 

division of words, 166. 

double letters, 168, 169. 

hyphens, 165. 

in Roman type, 167. 

digraphs, 168, 169. 

metal rules, 167. 

prefixes, 166. 

suffixes, 167. 

quotation marks, 168. 

reformed spelling, 164. 

spaced words, 166. 

spelling, 163. 
Greek, division of words, 172. 

How a publisher may be 

helped by an author, 39. 
Hyphens, in English, 104. 
in French, 150. 
in German, 165. 

Illustrations and cuts, 4, 52. 
Index, preparation of, 51. 
Ink, use black, 2. 
Inserting extra sheets in 

MSS., 3. 
Inverted commas, 76, 77, 130. 



Index 



179 



Italic type, when to use, 79, 80, 
102,103, 117, 159. 

Latin, division of words, 171. 
Libel, responsibility for, 29. 
Literary Agent, the, 12. 

Mailing or expressing MSS.,2. 
Manuscript, preparation of, 1. 

size and kind of paper, 1. 

margins, 1. 

numbering of pages, 1. 

use black ink, 2. 

safest way to send, 2. 

typewriting versus hand- 
writing, 2. 

mucilage versus pins, 4. 

footnotes and notes, 3. 

responsibility for the 
safety of, 8. 
Margins on manuscript, 1. 
Miscellaneous points of style, 

61, 78. 
MSS., see Manuscript. 

New English Dictionary, the, 

88, 89. 
Notes and footnotes, 3, 159. 
Numbers, 61, 80, 158. 
Numbering sheets of MS., 1. 

chapters, 1. 
Numerals, arable, 134. 

French, 143. 

roman, 134, 137. 

Offering a MS. to a pub- 
lisher, 7. 
Over-running, 49. 

Paper, best kind for MSS., 
1,41. 



Phonetic spelling, 101. 
Pins, avoid the use of, 4. 
Plates, cost of correction in, 

50. 
Plurals, formation of, in words 

of foreign origin, 99. 
Points, punctuation marks, 75. 

decimal, 135. 

full, when to omit, 136. 

in title-pages, 134. 

of the compass, 70. 
Presentation copies, 40. 
Press copies, 46. 

notices, 39, 42. 
Price, factors in determining, 

34, 4*« 

Proof-reading, 48. 
Proof, signs used in correct- 
ing, 54- 

correction, cost of, 51. 

specimen pages, 48. 

plate, correction of, 50, 51. 

of illustrations, 4, 52. 

page of, showing marks 
of correction, 58, 59. 

reading, 48. 
Publisher, the, his financial 
standing, 7, 11. 

his publishing machin- 
ery, 7. 

his prestige and its 
value, 7. 

his responsibility for 
safety of MSS., 8. 

his purposes in adver- 
tising, 42. 

how to choose your, 7, to. 
Punctuation generally, 75, 
120-134. 

colon, 126. 

comma, 75, 76, 123. 



i8o 



Index 



dash, 128. 

note of exclamation, 127. 
note of interrogation, 126. 
period or full stop, 126. 
semicolon, 76, 125. 
in relation to footnotes, 
134. 

Query or " Qy " on the mar- 
gin, 50. 
Quotation marks, 76, 131. 
in French, 160. 
in German, 168. 
inverted commas, 76, 77, 
Quotations from other books, 
3,77- 

References generally, 108, 159. 
to the Bible, 108. 
to footnotes, 108, 134, 

136, 159. 
to Shakespeare's plays, 
109. 
Reviews, 46. 

Royalties, advance, 9, 45. 
in England, 33. 
on educational books, 35, 
36, 37- 



Scandalous matter, author's 

responsibility, 29. 
Serial rights, 26. 
Short stories, 13. 
Signs used in proof-reading, 

54- 

Size of book, 41. 

of page,- 41, 48. 
Spacing generally, 61, 81, 115. 

in French, 151. 
Specimen pages sent to the 

author, 48. 
Speculative publishing, 44, 45. 
Spelling, American rules, 60, 
61. 

English rules, 85. 

French rules, 141. 

German rules, 163. 
Standard Dictionary, 61, 82. 

Text-books, 35, 36, 37. 
Title-pages, 134. 
Translations, 29. 
Type, sizes used in books, $7. 
Typewriting preferable, 2. 

Webster's Dictionary, 61, 62. 
Worcester's Dictionary, 61,62. 



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